The Second Circle
by Bella Liarra
Summary: Jadis, Scatter, Latia and Rikana are four different people who all find themselves in Discipline cottage. When Sandrilene fa Toren is rejected by much of her court as Duchess of Summersea, havoc ensues, and the four children can't avoid being involved.R
1. Lati

**Author's note: Bella: This is our idea of what the second circle would be like, it had similar characters to the first circle, and some of the originalcharacters are mentioned. We don't own any of them... R7R because the mroe you do the more we will update :D Enjoy**

"God's damn it, Lati!"

"Go away, go away, and _go away_." Latia Bewyn flipped right over in her bed, and covered her ears.

"It's past sun rise! Get up!"

"It's not sunrise, it's not, you're lying, you _liar_." Tact was not one of Lati's strong points, awake or no.

"Your porridge is by your bed, don't step in it, if you're not in the fields in ten minutes I'll personally make you clean out the privy." in his voice she could hear only the tiniest tinge of warmth that had been there when her mother was alive.

"Ew…" Not hearing him reply, she sat up in her bed, "I'm up, you see. I'm up!" The air did not respond.

It was her own fault, she could have told herself that, if she was being rational. But she was tired, and the farmhand was sick, and her book had been so interesting, she couldn't help staying up to read it. Fighting the cold of a coming winter, she stepped out of her bed, Like her father had predicted, Lati's little toe caught the bowl of porridge and the whole thing flipped over onto her bare feet, and over her dress, laying "neatly" by the side of her bed.

_Gee, thanks Dad_

With a little glare at the water in a jug by her father's bed, which, Lati was sure, was freezing cold, she tipped the jug over her head, as she poised herself over a clay basin to catch the extra drops.

Then with expert, if sleep fogged fingers she pulled a many times mended underdress over her head and tied the lacings tightly. Her wet hair soaked through the thin thing quickly.

Lati carefully stretched the fabric of her overdress over the wash basin, taking a pot of water that would have been warm if she had woken up on time, she poured that over the porridge stained stretched fabric, and just as the water over flowed and for a moment the porridge rose up and out of the fabric, she used the back of her fathers wooden comb and pushed it onto the ground.

By now her lips were blue and her teeth were chattering, and she danced around the room looking for a patch of wind to dry her dress as she waved it wildly, she jumped up and down and hoped for some warmth to enter her bones.

Then some warmth did indeed fill her body, and Lati pulled her still-wet dress on, and then a shawl that had belonged to her mother.

Something smelled wrong… Like smoke. She looked around the room; the candle her father had set out was not lit, after sunrise he always pinched out the flame.

"Oh gods." At the base of her beloved home was a flame, eating away at the wood her father and mother had sanded, cut, and worked together. It had come from the trees her grandmother had made grow for her beloved family.

Taking the wash basin, she threw the water in it at the flame. It sputtered and went out for a moment then sprang up again.

"Damn. damn, damn, damn, damn, damn." she repeated this to herself as she smacked the flame with her bedclothes. It spread up the wall.

Then it spread over to the next wall, then to the next.

Lati stared in awe, the flames were mesmerizing, not only were they mesmerizing they were deadly, and a small part of her mind, the smart part, urged her to run.

The pain was dizzying even as her brain barely acknowledged it.

What hurt more was someone grabbing her burnt arms and legs and ripping off her shawl; it was well made and could be used for the raider's own women, then dragging her away from her village.

"ERG!" she lashed around, her arms struggling for hold, her fingers reaching for some soft flesh to pinch.

"I thought you said she was calm and spoiled."

"She usually is."

"Gods Amian! You idiot! We treated you like family!" Lati stopped fighting, her eyes growing huge with disbelief.

Amian, the farmhand grabbed her chin. "Be quiet, we're not going to hurt you."

"_I _treated you like a brother!"

A man with blood soaking his hair and the ground around his head moaned, "Lati…"

"Father! FATHER!" Lati lashed out again, but this time something was different. Her eyes were huge with tears, and she pressed her hand to a raider's chest, he convulsed, and fell onto the ground, blood pooling out of his mouth. Her foot kicked the other raider holding her arm, on the soft underside of the knee; the person fell to the ground, dropping her too. As her calloused hands touched the ground bits of rock sprayed around her, "You gotta do better than that." she told her dirty, burnt hands. The ground seemed to agree as it churned like the ocean on a stormy day, ripples knocked people off their feet, she thrust her hands up into the air, and the earth itself came up like when a person jumps into a lake. Then she pushed her hands out, and again the very dirt she had once farmed followed her lead, it cut open heads, and her rose bush lashed around Amian and the man who seemed to be the raider leader. That felt weird. Then Lati took a look at her father, and saw only a corpse. With a muffled cry she ran towards the gates.

"Where will you go Lati?"

She didn't answer, but somehow Amian's words seem to reach her ears, cold and cutting.

"You're strange; you always have been, but now your _stranger_, who'll take you in?"

Again she didn't answer, _Winding Circle will, _she wanted to yell, but she couldn't, her throat wouldn't work. Her feet slowed, but no-one tried to grab her, no-one wanted to touch her.

"We could give you a life, Lati, You could be rich, famous, and you could have all the money in the world."

"Shut up!" she flung her arm out and a rock whizzed past her and hit his head. Amian slumped to the ground; her roses released his limp form.

Then she ran.


	2. Jadis

_**Jadis fer Tuvall **_

Jadis fer Tuvall threw his sheets from his bed in the wealthy Ruby Chalice dormitories of Winding Circle Temple. They were soft and downy, as was expected of warm, fluffy blankets. After all, the son of Suben fer Tuvall and Cira fa Tuvall could hardly have thin sheets.

"Jadis, what are you doing?" asked Rowan en Firoff at the other side of the room. Rowan was a joker, with messy honey brown hair and playful green eyes. His parents probably loved him, too. Jadis turned from staring down at his ruffled bed sheets to into his roommate's eyes. He looked away and neatened out his sheets. A lot of people told him he was odd. Then he would shrug, just to show them that he had indeed heard, but not really caring what they thought.

"Now, I for one can't really see the point in that action. First you dump it all on the floor and then you clean up. _Why?_" Rowan asked. Jadis just shrugged from where he was meticulously patting down the sheets. Rowan was an infuriatingly happy morning person.

The breakfast bell rang so loudly his ears began to hurt. Cracking his neck he meandered down the stairs, Rowan trailing after him, leaving Jadis wondering why. He wasn't much fun to talk to. Surely the boy would rather talk to someone else? He sat down and ate his delicious porridge slowly.

It was then that one of The Headaches came on, and a wave of fear overtook him. Would he blank out again? Would his body go out of his control while he was out, moving horribly like some kind of monster? He grasped his head tightly, feeling the sting of his nails on his skin. He had to stay awake. He couldn't blank out again. Fear like this would always grip him with even the slightest of headaches, and this was no slight headache. Pain ripped through his skull and his hand began to hurt for holding so hard. "Jadis, are you okay?" somewhere in him he knew this was Rowan talking, not someone trying to hurt him, but with his other hand he lashed out. He had to be allowed to handle this on his own. He didn't want to be seen as a pathetic person who couldn't take care of himself. No one else could help him anyways. Slowly, he took a rattled inward breath. Calm. He forced the feeling into his mind as he froze up. Calm. Maybe this wouldn't be another seizure? He could only hope. But if he panicked, wouldn't it be worse? Time ticked by slowly, and just as slowly the pain ebbed away. He had been lucky this time.

"Jadis what happened?" he was asked as soon as he opened his eyes again. The eyes of everyone in the dining hall were on his.

"Oh, just a headache." he smiled reassuringly. He had practiced this smile since birth, the one that told everyone he was okay, and they could stop worrying about him now. But today the eyes didn't stop staring. "What?" he asked irritably.

"You're wet." said Rowan quietly, his eyes scared and awed. Jadis frowned, confused. What was he talking about? He didn't feel sweaty. He felt his overcoat with his hand. Wet. Rowan had been right. But how could he have gotten so wet without even running? Was there a leak in the roof? He looked up, no. It wasn't even raining. Warmth stung his cheeks. He must have… done something.

The hall was quiet for what seemed like forever. The only noise was that of the Dedicates' hushed murmurs at the table behind him. Soon people began to speak again, about what they just saw. It wasn't every day that rain sprouted inside above just one person. Dedicate Moonstream tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to get up. He complied willingly, desperate to get away from the gaping stares of the dining hall.

She led him into her office. It was medium sized, with enough space for a desk and a multitude of short bookshelves brimming with literature. "Do you know what just happened?" she asked calmly.

"I got a headache." Jadis stated simply. Moonstream raised her eyebrows.

"Is that all? Are you telling me you did not notice rain pour in just above your head?" she folded her hands together patiently. That was what he saw as her essence though, patience. She couldn't run this place without it.

"I noticed." he said, calm too. He could control himself just as well as she could.

"Did you do this?" she asked, once again patient. He wasn't quite sure how she could do it. He would begin to get annoyed with his answers. He thought. Had he? He hadn't felt like he had been trying to do it. It had just happened.

"I don't know." he stated honestly after wrestling with his thoughts for over a minute.

"Yes you do. Think. Did you do this or not?" Jadis felt his nerves prickle through his icily calm exterior. He closed his eyes. He had. He knew he had. It felt like him, the rain. Did he really want to tell her though? "Jadis fer Tuvall." she commanded. His head snapped back up. "Did you or not?" her voice had a steely note to it.

"Yes." he replied. He looked down, not even sure why he felt embarrassed.

"Maybe, Jadis, this is not the right place for you. It seems there are things about you that we did not see when you entered Winding Circle. Pack your bags, I'm taking you to Discipline." she gestured for him to do so, and thoughts poured into his head at a mad rush. Why would she be sending him to live at Discipline? Wasn't that where they sent the mages? Couldn't he just be normal for once?

Once out the room he stormed into his dorm room. It was empty, everyone was still eating. Could it not have waited, even just a couple minutes or so? Why did he have to leave everyone he knew? Yeah, strange things happened around him. So what? He threw all of his clothing into his fine wooden trunk and closed the gold clasp. A dedicate from the Air Temple glided into his room, as the show offs often did, and asked him if that was all, Jadis nodded. The dedicate lifted his trunk marginally into the air. He turned and left, the trunk following him like an obedient puppy. He supposed he was supposed to as well. Not that he could really do anything else. The dedicate led him down a beaten path to a small cottage that could probably hold about eight people if you were to really push it. It had a magnificent garden outside. It wasn't done up with anything particularly fancy, but the plants just glowed. They were all in perfect condition. But then again, Dedicate Rosethorn lived here, didn't she? He didn't really know much about her, or her partner Lark who lived with her here. All he knew about them was that they were both Great Mages, Rosethorn with plants and Lark with sewing. He also knew that they were the teachers of the mages Briar Moss, Sandrilene fa Toren, Daja Kisubo and Trisana Chandler, who were on their way to becoming Great Mages themselves. Most people said they were in fact, especially after defeating Namorn's best eight years ago. Trisana Chandler had since gone to Lightsbridge and earned herself a license.

The only reason he knew even this was because there is really nothing else to talk about but other people's woes when you are a bored noble. He had begun to think this was not a school to guide children in studies and such but more to teach them the art of gossip.

The Air Dedicate knocked on the door loudly. "I'm coming!" was yelled as the dedicate knocked again. A woman opened the door. She had a bit of a scowl on her face, but was really quite pretty. "Yes?" she asked impatiently.

"Dedicate Moonstream wishes this boy to stay with you here in Discipline." the Air Dedicate replied some what nervously, a blush rising to his cheeks.

"And _when_ did she plan on telling me this?" she asked angrily.

"I don't know." he replied.

"Let me talk to her." she commanded. The Air Dedicate succumbed, just like that. No other coercing needed. Maybe he could have talked him out of making him move here? It didn't look like it would have been too hard. Rosethorn was busy glaring out into the distance after the dedicate, when a hand went on her shoulder and she almost jumped from surprise.

"What's going on?" the woman's voice was kind and gentle. He assumed this was Dedicate Lark.

"Moonstream wants this boy to move in with us." Rosethorn jerked her ever accusing thumb in Jadis's direction.

"He has magic?" Lark asked.

"Of course he does, she wouldn't send him here if he didn't." she replied. Both of them were speaking as though he weren't even there. Jadis wasn't too sure. If they were right, wouldn't he know, at the very least?

The sound of the wind chime above him rang softly in his ears. Lark looked up suspiciously. "I think he should stay, Rosie."

Rosethorn sighed, knowing she was right. "Yes, but she could have at least given us some warning."

"Yes but that's no reason to deny the boy an education." Jadis waited patiently for the two of them to finish their discussion.

"May I come in?" he asked, "or must I wait out here while you decide?" he looked Rosethorn in the eye.

"Come in." Lark answered for her. "We have a lot of room right now, anyways. There's no one else with us at the moment." she and Rosethorn helped him carry his trunk inside, forgetting about Moonstream who was probably coming here as fast as she could. The two women showed him around the quaint little house, telling him strictly not to touch anything in the garden or they would send a hive of bees after him. Or, rather, it was Rosethorn that told him this. He eventually settled on the upstairs bedroom that faced the outside wall of Winding Circle.

It wasn't much longer after that that Moonstream came in and began lecturing the women about what he had done in the dining hall and as the best mages around to handle this sort of thing it was their obligation to do so. The two women waited until she was finished to calmly reply that they had already given him a room.


	3. Scatter

"Are you sure you want to go out there again?" Scatter stared at Magpie, who raised a wet eyebrow, her whole face seemed to say, _I've been out there already, again won't hurt me your spoiled highness_.

"Well I'm coming with you."

At about eleven, or twelve Scatter was small for her age, her eyes were huge in a petite face and a brilliant blue-purple in colour.

"Funny." The way she said it made it sound more like an insult than anything else, then Magpie darted out the door as quickly as she could, hoping to lose the younger girl.

Scatter's two braids, both a dark, dark golden colour, with their twin light bronze rings tied into each one got wet and heavy quickly, but that didn't deter her. If the thief Lord thought she was going to be stuck in that stupid, damp, old building one second longer, he had something else coming.

She watched a real magpie settle onto a covered table filled with trinkets that were better than the average street rat saw, but still affordable for mages or some other Bags that wanted them. She spat on the rain slicked ground and the magpie grabbed two lovely silver weight rings with bright opals set along their lengths, the kind widows used to keep their veils smooth, but these were huge, made rather for the fashionable layered silk skirts younger women wore today.

"Sir!" Scatter pointed at the magpie, "Sir, its getting away." she began to chase after it, and the merchant, a young newbie, did the stupidest thing you could possibly do; he ran with her, just when she figured he had reached a state of distraught trust, she began to breath heavily and bent over like she was very, very tired. He kept running.

Scatter ran back to the little stall, and found a nice thumb ring that fit her little fingers, she slipped it on. Then she burrowed under the stall for some things that would be a little less suspicious.

"This is pretty." The cord was made of some sort of metal cloth, Hanging from it were three feathers caught up in beads of so many colours they looked like little rainbows.

Carefully, in awe mostly, she slipped the thing over her neck; the metal cloth was warm to touch the feather's just touched a patch on her ribs, Scatter didn't care, she'd grow into it. She touched a cord choker set with several large beads, it marked her as the Thief Lord's. The two necklaces went nicely together.

Finally she grabbed an apple and made her way back towards the hideout, as always she wondered what God had been smiling down on her today, silently she thanked each one, even the ones that weren't really supposed to watch over Sotat.

"Where have you been? You stupid, maukie, idiot girl!"

Scatter touched the warm metal necklace, "Go stuff yourself," she snapped, as she magpie glided in and dropped the pretty silver rings into her hand, she went to find a corner and tied them into her braid, dropping the bronze ones with their symbolic wrapping in three places into a worn leather pouch under her patchy blankets, No-one dared take her stuff, she was property of the Thief Lord, and this was _her_ property.

She amused herself for a few minutes picturing what the merchant would do, and then she curled up into her blankets and slept.

The man was practically in tears, His hands were cradling his head and it was obvious that he'd lost something terribly important.

"The…..Daja…. worth……fortune!" He stammered to a Watch Mage.

"He says that the girl took a necklace he bought from the Mage Daja. The Cord was made from living metal, the beads were multicoloured and spelled for reassurance, and there were three symbolic feathers."

"Do you remember what she looked like?"

The merchant shook his head, "That's the thing. Every time I try to remember, it seems like the information was lost in my mind, I remember she was pretty young, with… braids."

"Anything else you can tell us?"

"I believe she has a pet magpie that also stole two weight rings, she seemed to tie the things to her braids…" The man rubbed his forehead, "I have an awful headache."

"One last thing, can you remember what the weight rings looked like? The ones she was wearing, not the stolen ones."

"The whole thing seems like a blur now."

The Watch Mage gathered his apprentice to him, "A necklace made by a great mage like Daja Kisubo, that's worth a lot. However the victim does not remember what the thief looked like, or even the small details that he in his craft should remember, like what the weight rings she wore in her hair looked like. What should we do?"

The woman surveyed her teacher with serious eyes, she was a woman in her late teens, "I say we get a magic sniffer and let him follow the trail the necklace left, something _that_ powerful would leave some sort of trail, I'm sure."

Proudly the Watch Mage nodded, "Good, that's exactly what we'll do."

"Hurry, come on, the watch is coming! We've got to move!"

"What? Why are they coming?"

"I don't know, you're the last one, let's get you out of here."

"What about the Thief Lord's Pet? He'll kill us if we don't get her out of here."

"Where is she?"

"You mean you didn't see her leave?"

"No, I think Bugs has her."

"Let's go then."

Scatter woke up beneath her blankets, the old mire building she and ten or fifteen others had made their home was completely empty. The only time that happened was when they were pulling off a big raid, and if they were doing that then she'd have known about it.

"In there!"

Scatter shrank against the corner, making her tiny hungry body even small until she slipped into the shadows.

"There's nothing in here." This voice sounded disdainful.

'If it wasn't so dark then we might be able to see something." A calm, learned woman's voice seemed to say, suddenly a light seemed to fill the room illuminating every corner, and vanquishing every shadow.

"The magic from it is in here." A scrawny magic sniffer said, casting out his magic again, then he winced, "Make a barrier. I think someone is using magic."

The woman's voice chanted something. Then she began to grope blindly for the girl.

"Who ever took it must have some sort of magical aptitude."

Scatter wiggled wildly away from the woman's hands. "I don't have magic." Her hand quickly covered her mouth.

The woman touched Scatter's forehead. "She's here." She muttered something, then again she chanted. Anger furrowed her brow, then she flung out an arm, Scatter knew it was over, she could see herself reflected in their eyes, she could also see the wonder there.

"Did you know you just did a magical working?"

"It wasn't me."

"Mage Kali. I don't sense any magic in her." confirmed the magic sniffer, which, if they were being polite they would call a magic detector.

"What's your name?"

"Scatter."

"Well Scatter, I think you stole something very important to a young man."

Scatter reached towards her braids and began to untie the weight rings. "He can have them. They're too heavy anyway." she lied, trying to retain some dignity.

"The necklace." The lady held out her hand, Scatter felt a bit of distress, she quite liked the necklace, and she didn't want to give it up. She wrapped her fingers around the cord and tugged gently, she felt the skin of her neck pull. She tugged again harder. This time her skin stung slightly.

"It's stuck."

"What?"

"It won't come off."

"Can I try?" There was something very kind about the Mage, and Scatter felt safe, even though she knew what they did to thieves; this was only her first time getting caught though, they couldn't do anything too horrible to her.

Scatter nodded, "Just don't pull too hard, it hurts."

The necklace did not come off.

"Kali, let's just figure out what to do with her later, we should probably tattoo her now. The Thief Lord is notorious for getting those who belong to him out of jail before we can."

"Also don't want the wench running away on you." The Magic Sniffer added.

"I'm not a thing." Scatter said angrily, even as Kali put metal cuffs over her wrists.

"What?"

"I don't _belong_ to the Thief Lord, I was _chosen_ to maybe become one of his… Ladies. But I don't _belong_ to him!" There was a panicked, sort of whiney tone to her voice, like this was something she had heard all her life and she refused to believe it. Maybe it was even something she told herself. But it certainly wasn't something she had come to terms with.

"I'd be thinking about how you can repay Merchant Adamis for his necklace if I were you."

Scatter patted the two silver majas in her belt. They were for when she was in trouble, and this was definitely trouble. The currency was for Emelan but it tended to be accepted just about everywhere in Sotat.

They didn't even put her in a cell, but marched her right past them.

"Excuse me." she tugged on her guard's sleeve, "Is it true Briar Moss slept in one of those cells and made moss grow? Could I see it? _Please._"

"Later."

"Excuse me." She tugged on his sleeve again, "What do they do the tattoos with?"

"A needle." The guard frowned as his abnormally perky charge suddenly quieted, her lower lip trembled, and her jaw clenched.

"Excuse me?" Scatter tugged on his sleeve once more, her voice tiny and soft, "I don't want to do this, is there anyway to magically do it or something?"

"I'm sure there is but those are reserved for the higher class citizens who committed a crime and can pay for a mage to do it."

"Excuse me." A tear fell down her cheek; she didn't bother to brush it off, "Will it hurt?"

"I think it must hurt a little at least."

"Excuse me?" Scatter stopped walking, "Please don't make me do it."

"That's my job."

"Excuse me."

"Yes!"

"I don't feel so good." promptly, she fainted.

Scatter woke up to whispers, someone was clutching all of her fingers and someone was holding her thumb so the web of skin was stretched tight, a cold hand was on her elbow, holding it down, and the chair she was in was supremely uncomfortable, Her eyes watered as she realized her whole hand was on fire.

"Urg!" she knocked away the knees of the woman hold the needle, someone grabbed her other arm, and held her tightly, she turned furious eyes onto the man holding her tattooed hand, as if of their own free will, finger by finger, his death grip on her hand began to loosen.

She pushed him away, her hand throbbed harder, and then something peculiar happened, he flew across the room, not just stumbled back slightly, she wasn't very strong after all, but actually fell across the room and hit the wall.

"Let go of me!" Bodies seemed to jump away from her.

Her lower lip trembled again; she turned an eye to her bleeding tattooed hand. As if to please her, the tattoo began to change until if formed a black orchid, the stem and leaves draped themselves across and along her arm.

"It seems I am a little too late." Scatter turned around, exhaustion flooding her body. A man was standing in the doorway. He was tall, his hair black and streaked with gray, his clothes were those of a Bag, and those weren't really supposed to be hanging around here.

"Who are you?"

"Niklaren Goldeye, pleasure to meet you…?"

"Scatter."

"Scatter, I don't think you belong here."

"Will I get in trouble?"

"Actually my dear, this will get you _out_ of trouble."

"What did you say your name was again?"


	4. Rikana

_**Rikana**_

A piercing scream shot through the air, startling birds from their roosts. The scream came from a glorious palace made of stone, climbing up high into the sky. Almost everyone in hearing radius of the scream came running, thinking maybe murder was taking place or something. When they ran to where the noise came from, they did not find a bloody murder, or a horrifying rapist, but a young girl, around eleven years old trying to get away from a man whose hand was tightened onto her small wrist. She let out another ear piercing scream, still wrestling away. The man let go as soon as people started running towards him.

"What's going on?" asked a loud, powerful voice. The man shrugged innocently.

"I came up to this kid and she just started screaming. I didn't even do nothing!" he threw his hands up in the air, the little girl sobbing horribly.

"Girl, who is your mistress?" the man crouched down to her level, looking at her kindly.

"Lady Sarranan." she replied timidly, her lower lip quivering. The man sent a runner to find her. It wasn't long before she came in, her hands on her hips, her face completely unsympathetic to a poor confused little girl. She was thin and elegant, her brown hair tied into a bun at the back of her head. Her lips were pursed and she had prominent frown lines around her mouth. These muscles were obviously being used right now as she ground down on her teeth.

"You may leave now." she told the nice man who had summoned her. He bowed and left the hallway. The woman grabbed her servant by the bicep. The girl bit her lip fiercely as she forced herself not to cry. "What were you thinking? Were you _trying _to embarrass me?" The little girl had only been working for her for a month, but she already knew she was very strict and had a very odd way of thinking. The man who grabbed her had been following her around ever since her parents had given her to the castle to earn them some money. He scared her. Then today he had just come up to her and grabbed her. The little girl shook her head. She really hadn't been trying to embarrass Lady Sarranan. "What do you have to say for yourself?" the woman demanded of her. At that point, she just couldn't take it and another wave of tears spilled from her cheeks. The woman let go and rolled her eyes. "Pathetic."

Since that day Rikana Goodsinger had grown up a lot. Not long after that first incident in the castle Lady Sarranan had given her to some Traders. Apparently she had been too full of trouble. It had been hard to get used to living as a Trader. For one thing she never stayed in one place. She didn't have very much stuff. She hadn't been allowed to bring much with her. The Traders had been amazing to her, though, and she would be forever in their debt. They had taken her in, for one. Then they provided her with food and clothing so long as she cooked, cleaned and did some other such odd tasks. Soon they had begun to acknowledge her as the best cook in the caravan, much to the actual cook's distress. She learnt the language quite quickly, after only a few months. But even though all of this was true, she was still an Outsider to them. She had the ignorance of one not brought up in a Trader house by Traders to become one.

She felt like an Outsider too, sometimes. Her only comfort was food. Not eating it, but making it. She could spend hours in a kitchen pouring over the stove making sure whatever she made tasted just right. When she was feeling especially comfortable she would sing at the top of her lungs, but then someone would come inside to ask her if she would _please_ be quiet because she was such a horrible singer.

It was a pretty summer day when the caravan decided to head to Summersea, Emelan. It was a month and a half later when they actually arrived. It was a warm day with little flecks of grass perking up everywhere. They wandered through the marketplace with their goods. Pukar walked beside her, making her laugh so hard her sides began to hurt. His mother was the caravan _wirok_ so they shared their lack of status. They were each holding a parcel of food for Winding Circle kitchens. The adults had set up a booth in the market and had sent them to get the goods to Gorse. Winding Circle was lovely. It was small, and quaint, with a large tower in the middle. The whole place had a strong hum to it, making Rikana's bones shake if she listened too hard.

The kitchens, where Dedicate Gorse worked, was even better. It smelt like food. Good, delicious, food. The smell and sight of all the works in progress made Rikana feel giddy, wanting to fiddle with their textures and make them just right. She wanted to look in the spice drawers badly, see what exotic spices they had here in the trade capitol of the world. Surely their was something here she had never heard of, or a secret that would make her foods irresistible. Her eyes sparkled as she took it all into her senses. Soon she felt a jab to her ribs.

"Riki, snap out of it." Rikana forced herself to direct her gaze back at her friend.

"What?" she asked grumpily. He rolled his eyes.

"It looked like you were hypnotized." he replied grumpily. If her arms hadn't been holding an eight pound bag of flour she would have put her hands on her hips and glared at him. She had to settle for an angry pout. He chortled with one half of his face, the other side looking cheeky. That was how he smiled. Or laughed, or did anything in between. It was almost his trademark. Few people could remember him for anything else.

His skin was a little darker than hers, and his hair was a dark brown. His eyes were brown and mischievous, and he himself gave the impression of being tall and lanky, but was only a hands length taller than she.

"Ah, you've come with supplies?" said the man she assumed was Dedicate Gorse. He lifted the heavy bundle out of her hands.

"Thank you." she replied eagerly to the man who was so obviously an amazing cook. Just looking at him make her bones hum. He felt like noodles and strawberry ice cream. Pukar set his parcel by the door and a few novices carried it into the storage cupboard. Dedicate Gorse paid their fee and showed them into the kitchen, obviously delighted by the look of wonder on the girl's face. Even Pukar found himself impressed, as much as he loved _T'sawha _food.

In the end, it took more than an hour to drag her out of the kitchen.

"Why do you always have to lug that thing with you everywhere?" Rikana asked, pointing to Pukar's trader staff soon after they left the gates of Winding Circle.

"It's for protection, dumbass." he said grouchily. It wasn't like she hadn't asked him before.

"Well, you're a dumbass too." she replied lamely. He laughed softly. She made the most pathetic comebacks. He looked back at her. She was pouting angrily, her arms folded over her chest. She sniffed.

"Aw, come on. Don't be mad, I didn't mean it."

"I'm not mad!" she declared angrily, gritting her teeth.

"Riki…"

"Don't call me Riki!" she snapped and walked a bit faster. Pukar sighed. Was her moon time coming up again? It was the only excuse he ever had for her extreme moodiness. He stayed back a bit, admiring her fierce temper.

That was when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "You're not wanted here, Trader." a voice hissed from behind him. "You don't deserve our women. Now come with us or we'll beat your little girlfriend till she just don't exist no more." His heart started hammering. They must mean Rikana, he thought. Frightened, he did as he was told. His mind ran through the logical ways to handle this. He could try and talk this through, but would they really listen? He doubted it. He could just let them get it over with, but that would probably be unpleasant. Or he could fight back and be labeled a dirty trader. But then again, that was what everyone thought already, so why did it matter? He would see if that was where it really went, or if this was something else.

It wasn't. As soon as they stepped into an alleyway he felt a hard fist ram into his stomach. He tried to reach for his staff but another one of them reached for it first. There were about five people, all slamming fists into him. He could barely see anything. Why was he even being attacked? What had he ever done to them. He swung his leg wildly into the air, hoping it would hit something. It did. But then one of the attackers jumped him and pummeled him to the ground. Pukar could barely breath. He couldn't move, that was for sure, the guy on top of him was heavy, and Pukar was in no way trained to fight.

A stab went into his shin, then his arm, and he felt like he was going to die.

A piercing scream shot into the air and he could hear footsteps come running.

Not long after she had stormed off, Rikana had noticed Pukar hadn't been following her, so she traced her steps and found herself staring into an alleyway where Pukar was bleeding and being attacked by five completely random gangsters. Then she had screamed and the guard had come running. Not thinking she threw herself into the fray, slamming her small fists onto their backs, which was more of an annoyance than anything else. She tried to push them off of him, but one just rammed her into the wall, saying this was none of her business.

The guards didn't see it that way, they forced the men off Pukar, giving him a chance to live. But his wounds were severe. Rikana sobbed as they lifted him up on a magic stretcher. Healers were called through little alerting bulbs to the boy while they did some emergency healing.

"He's going to need to stay here a few months, to recuperate." said one healer, wiping sweat off her brow. Rikana nodded with a sniff, her hands clasped around her mouth. Big, fat tears still rolled down her face.

"How could you have let him get into trouble like this, Rikana?" scolded the caravan wirok, Pukar's mother. Rikana looked straight into her eyes, hiding no regret and no tears. She was horrified at what had happened because of her, she knew it was her fault, and she was not going to hide that.

"I am very sorry. Chiha." said Rikana remorsefully, barely holding back her tears.

"Mother, it wasn't her fault. She saved my life by screaming like that, and she did try to help once she saw what was happening." said Pukar from the hospital bed in the

"But if she had not left you in the first place this would not have happened." she glared. As a mother it was her duty to protect her son, and after all, she was right. Chiha took in a shaky breath. "Our caravan cannot afford to wait here while you recuperate. We will have to leave. Rikana, we have left it as your duty to stay with him. We have some money to give you, but all in all you will have to find your own way to support yourselves." the woman shook. Her son was young still, she did not want to leave him. She loved him with all her might. But the caravan leader had outranked her. They had no time. They had important clients waiting for them in Sotat. They had important goods to sell there. Expensive goods. Goods that would generate a good profit too, so that they could come back soon for her son.

"You aren't leaving now, are you?" asked her son warily.

"No son." she looked at her blood dearly. Rikana felt like she was intruding on the small family. Closing her ears to their conversation she looked around the large room. There were probably fifteen other people here in this room in Urda's House. There was this putrid smell of the sick and dying. She wrinkled her nose. Although she wasn't used to luxury, she wasn't used to this poverty either.

The girl stifled a yawn. All that crying had left her tired, even though it was only about four in the afternoon. What was she going to do, anyways? What could a girl with minimal skills do to earn herself money? A horrible image came into her mind and she shivered. Anything but _that_.

The woman gave her son a peck on the cheek and took great strides from his bed out of hearing distance and gestured for Rikana to come forward. Or, at least, she assumed it was her, because who else would she be motioning to? "You'd better protect him." she warned. "And I want no monkey business, you hear? When I come back I want to see my son safe and sound, and healthy. " she waggled a finger in Rikana's face.

"Yes, ma'am." Rikana's answer was demure, as was expected.

"Please keep my son safe." her eyes were earnest, she didn't want to leave, Rikana could see it as easily as the beds around her.

"I will." she promised. And she meant it.


	5. Scatter Meets Jadis

**Authors' note: This is a two chapter, chapter. Please review. we love the hits we're getting, but reviews make us happy, plus they help us smooth out the little things you don't tend to notice when you update at 11:22 at night.**

Scatter combed out her hair. It was clean. That was a change. Her dress was loose on her body but she wouldn't complain to Niko. That seemed wrong, especially as he had waited for hours as she tried on several dresses and found a few that didn't hang off her like curtains off a rod. Instead she cinched the excess cloth back and trapped the extra rolls of fabric with a scarf; she tied that tightly, wrapped it around her waist again and tied it once more.

She touched the warm metal necklace which she had begun to call the Daja necklace. She could hardly believe the metal liked her enough to stick with her. She couldn't believe she thought of the metal as living now. But if there _was_ living metal this was certainly what it would feel like.

"I hear she's a thief." Scatter frowned, the girl was quiet, but Scatter had been painstakingly trained to hear even whispers.

"My favourite hair ribbon has disappeared actually." Scatter blushed, that hair ribbon was under the speaker's bed, if she cared to look for it.

"And my necklace is gone." added another eagerly. Scatter threw her brush on her bed, it bounced off but she didn't care, she ran past the girls, elbowing and shouldering them out of her way,

"Go stuff yourselves." Scatter snarled, she hadn't expected them to like her, but at the least they could be courteous and ask her to her face if she had taken whatever it was. Then again Bags never were very smart; any one of her fellow street rats could have told her that if she cared to listen.

She hoped the steps, two at a time. When she got to the last few she gave a giant jump and crash landed on the floor, then she took off, through the doors, down the court yard. Ignoring the yells directed at her.

After a while she slowed down, her ribs seem to keep her lungs from expanding as they had to and her stomach burned fiercely. She sat down with a thump and buried her face in her knees, tears blurred her vision. _I'm insane; I was insane to say yes to Niko when he told me "Oh we're going to a school for other people who do weird stuff without meaning to. They'll love you and your oddities, I swear. Don't be nervous." _"Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar." she said into her knees, all too ready to march back to Winding Circle and give Niko a piece of her mind. Except he wasn't _at_ Winding Circle, which would be a problem, Scatter took off her shoe and threw it as far, and as hard as she could for lack of anything better to do.

"Hey, is this yours?" her shoe was placed at her feet

Scatter looked up, she wiped viciously at her face. "Maybe."

"You're missing a shoe."

"Then it's probably mine."

"I think so." a small smile crept onto the boy's face. He was tallish. His clothing was exceptionally well made and kept up to the latest fashions. His head, however, was shaved, something that was fairly unusual in Summersea.

"Ah, you can think, already you're one up-ing those kids at Winding Circle academy." she wasn't actually sure what the academy was called; she had been tired when it was explained. As one of the future ladies of the Thief lord Scatter was taught proper language she rarely used it, but she knew it.

"There are baby goats at the academy?" he raised his eyebrows disbelievingly with the air of the highborn.

"Yes." Scatter copied his airs, "It's hard to hear the Teacher-Dedicates over their bleatin'."

"Where do they keep these goats then?" he asked, his eyebrows still raised as condescendingly as humanly possible.

"With everyone else a'course." Scatter stood up, "They leave their mess on the floor, 'cause they can and bother everyone 'cause their parents tell them they can, and pay for them if they weren't really supposed to."

"I'll have you know I've been in there and have seen no such thing." he folded his arms stubbornly.

"A kid is a child." Scatter snapped, "I thought everyone knew that."

A blush rose to the boy's cheeks, so did a look of shame. "Oh. I thought you were being serious."

"I'm not used to talking to rich Bags." She pulled on her shoe, "So I guess I'm not used to speakin' proper."

"Oh. I assume you are living at the academy?" he asked.

"Yep, and I'm running away." she said this matter-of-factly, then stood up, "You can come with me, but I don't think you'd want to."

"You're right. Maybe it would be better if you came with me." he knew it wasn't smart, asking some random, insane girl to house with him in his new home, he wasn't used to being spontaneous, but it had slipped off his tongue before he had been able to stop it.

"Is that allowed?" Just her luck, she asked someone if they wanted to run away and she had chosen a crazy boy.

"No, I don't think so, but I doubt running away is either."

"I don't have an answer to that, but I hope you know that I'm beneath you, so if you change your mind, I'll understand."

Jadis was quiet. "How about I introduce you to Lark?" He'd wait a couple hours for Rosethorn, until she was awake at the very least.

"Scatter!"

Scatter jumped, especially when a hand, ice cold and about as appealing, gripped her shoulder hard enough to bruise.

"Young lady, you are in trouble, a _lot_ of trouble."

"Bite me." Scatter snapped back, suddenly embarrassed.

"I will do no such thing." The old, withered woman, had the face of someone who was about as flexible as a tree trunk, the expression of pure horror on her face would have made Scatter laugh if it hadn't been directed at her.

"Whatever they told you is a lie, they accused me of stealing and they didn't even do it to my _face_. I refuse, hear me, _refuse_, to go back, and if you try and make me I'll make life there so miserable that you'll wish you were at the other side of the _world_."

The Lady, a prim and prosper Dedicate, planted both feet on the ground, easy as you please, and took her arm. "You are going to have a long, _long_, discussion with Head Dedicate Moonstream."

"I think she was coming with me." Jadis muscles tensed, expecting maybe a slap for his impudence.

"And you would be?"

"Important." Scatter snapped, wriggling in the steel grip of her opponent. It was a guess, pure and simple, but from the make of his clothes, he had to be some sort of noble.

"Jadis fer Tuvall, Dedicate." he straightened his back and looked down like he had seen his father do so many times. It wasn't hard either, he was tall. The woman was a bit shorter than him.

Scatter resisted the urge to stick out her tongue at the woman; instead she smiled sweetly up at her, looking for all the world like a flower, basking in the sun. She didn't know exactly what that meant, but it sound important.

"I see," was the cold response. If Scatter has expected a big reaction she was sorely disappointed, still, she caught a slightly worried gleam in the Dedicates' eyes.

Jadis spotted the look of fear in her eyes and pounced. "I'm sure your superior would be upset if she knew that you were messing with the order of things around here. She's bound for Discipline. If you care to squabble any more about this manner, summon Moonstream. I think she would know what to do better than you." he didn't care if she disliked his words. If she really wanted to make a fuss, she would summon Moonstream, and that would give him time to talk to Lark and Rosethorn about letting her stay. Why was he doing this again?

Scatter gave Jadis her biggest, sweetest, most charming, most grateful smile, relieved beyond words, "Go ahead." she waved the woman away, "Go get Moonstream, and Niko. I think he'll want to know where I've gone to."

"And what should I tell him?" Her voice was dry and somewhat sarcastic.

"That I've gone to Discipline."

"Before you go, Dedicate, what is your name?" asked Jadis, his arms folded.

"Taqerlai, Dedicate StarGrass." The woman snapped, "I suggest you stop pulling rank, boy. It will only get you so far." She turned around and stomped back towards Winding Circle

"Far enough." he smirked.

Scatter threw her arms around Jadis, grinning from ear to ear, "I don't know how to thank you!"

The boy stiffened at her touch. He wasn't used to hugs. "You could get off me, for one." he said.

"So what exactly are you? A Prince, A Baron, somewhat related to the Duke." Her tone was light and joking.

"Suben fer Tuvall's son. I'm a Tuvall, apparently we're a class of our own." he smiled halfheartedly.

"Are you now?" Scatter gave him a mock curtsy, no less confused than she was before, "I'm Scat-," she paused, halfway through her name, this boy was apparently very important, he might regret helping her if she didn't even have a real name, "I'm Aelis." she said, "Aelis Tophia Shatheif." if she was lucky he wouldn't notice that her last name meant, Of the Thief. If she wasn't lucky, well, then she'd make something up.

He bowed perfectly. "Pleased to meet you Lady Aelis Tophia Shathief."

Scatter blushed deeply, "I'm no Lady, your specialness" she had no idea what she was supposed to call him. "I mean-"

Jadis smiled his crooked half-smile. "Don't worry. We're roommates, remember? Come, I think we'd better sort it out so by the time she gets back you will be."

"I will be what?"

"My roommate."

"Oh."


	6. Scatter Meets Jaidis Prt 2

**Author's note: This is a continuation of the previous chapter. **

**Many many many many many many thanks to our two absolutly Lovely reviews. We love you. Also yes, this story is similar to the original circle books in many ways, we just wanted to make sure that people understand this is the second circle, and not just a random story with our characters being stuffed into Tammy's world.**

**Again R&R because we will love you forever for it.**

Jadis opened the wooden door to Discipline cottage, yelling loudly "Lark, we've got a problem!"

"Problem has a name!" Scatter yelled in turn, confused and upset by this new development, "If I'm a problem I don't have to live here." she said haughtily.

"Not you, Moonstream." Jadis said to her quietly, somewhat frustrated that she seemed to think he was always talking about her when he said something negative, "I told some dedicate that this girl I met lived at Discipline!"

"Oh, oops." Scatter covered her mouth, if she couldn't speak, she couldn't blurt out anything stupid.

"And why did you do that?" Lark came down the stairs, "And why does that girl have her hand over her mouth?"

"I don't know why her hand is over her mouth, Lark, but I said she's staying here because the woman would get her in trouble if I didn't. In fact, she would have gotten herself in trouble, she was running away." Jadis trusted the two women who lived in Discipline completely, so he told Lark everything.

"Well, then Moonstream should be coming here soon," Lark sighed, "What's your name?"

Scatter removed her hand from her mouth, "Aelis. But I like my middle name better, please call me Tophia." She figured it was the thing a normal girl would have said, where on earth had she gotten Aelis from?

"Jadis, please show Tophia to her new room."

"There are three that she could have, Lark, I don't know which she wants." said the boy exasperatedly.

"Well go show them _all_ to her."

Jadis did just that, quickly showing her all the bedrooms but his own. When they reached his he merely pointed stating, "This is my room."

"I want that one." Scatter pointed to the one opposite his, forgetting to be polite. "I can't believe I'm going to live in the same house the Great Mages came from." her face was flushed with excitement, her two braids unraveling.

Jadis nodded. "Yeah, they're powerful." he folded his arms over his chest, remembering the tone of scorn his father took whenever he spoke of them.

"Don't sound so excited," Scatter said sarcastically, "What, did one of them turn you into a frog or something?"

Jadis snorted. "No, my father wasn't particularly fond of them, that's all."

"Neither was the Empress of Namorn," Scatter said with a shrug. "See this necklace?" she plucked at it, it was no longer attached to her skin, but it did seem to cling when she pulled it off. "The Mage Daja made it. Isn't it pretty?"

Jadis smiled, it was rather nice, it had probably cost the girl a gold maja or two, "Where did you get it?"

"My father gave it to me for my birthday." she lied smoothly, "Why's your head shaved?"

Jadis smiled stiffly. "You'll like Discipline, Lark is wonderful. I'd be careful around Rosethorn though, she's tough."

"I admire your avoiding skills. They're a pleasure to listen to," she paused, "Sounds like Moonstream, and Taqerlai are here." she cocked her head to one side, listening. "Oh. I though Niko had left."

"We'd better go meet them." said Jadis smoothly, completely ignoring the comment about his 'avoiding skills'

"And why would we do that?" Inquired Scatter, a firm believer, herself in avoiding problems.

"So we can help explain calmly and politely what is going on." Jadis began marching out the door, clearly expecting her to follow him.

"Ah, Aha." Scatter didn't move an inch, her fingers tangling themselves around her necklace. She wondered how long it would take him to realize that she was waiting at the top of the stairs for a better reason.

The boy glanced back at her, "if you don't come they may not let you stay."

Scatter sighed, "Fine, but if Niko calls me Scatter it's 'cuz it's my nickname, so don't be confused."

Jadis nodded and proceeded quickly down the stairs. Upon seeing the two other dedicates Jadis smiled in his most polite, gentlemanly manner. "Dedicate Taqerlai, Dedicate Moonstream, Niko, good to see you. I assume the three of you are here to discuss Lady Aelis Tophia Shathief?" he wasn't acting at all like himself, Scatter noticed. He seemed unreal, like some kind of bizarrely charming knight from a fairy tale.

Moonstream offered Scatter an odd look but after that seemed to ignore the girl's new names, "We are," Acknowledged the Head dedicate with a slight tilt of her head.

"I don't see what the problem is." Niko said, Scatter half expected him to wink his amusement at her, but knowing Niko from the boat ride here, he didn't wink.

"Neither do I." Jadis said. "So she stays here?"

"I was considering moving her here myself, I must admit." Moonstream said with a nod, "Thank you for bringing me here, Dedicate Stargrass."

"That older woman flushed, but bowed stiffly, "No thanks needed."

"Glad that's settled then." Jadis smiled broadly, which was odd (although Scatter had only known him for about an hour) because he never smiled with both sides of his mouth. "Would you like some tea Dedicates?"

"I'll help you." Scatter ran after Jadis, into the kitchen, "I hope you know that I don't know whether to hit you or hug you."

"How about neither?" he didn't feel he knew this girl well enough to be receiving hugs, and being hit wasn't at all appealing. The boy poured some tea into the cups he had taken out of the cupboards above his head, "Do you have magic?"

"I guess I do. Body Magic. Sounds weird doesn't it?"

"Healing, you mean?"

"No, I mean, sure you can use it for healing, but its body magic, pure and simple."

"Which means..." the boy asked absentmindedly as he carefully stirred his tea so that the milk and tea mixture were one.

"This." Scatter focused her mind until only his hand mattered; slowly she circled her finger in the opposite direction that he was stirring, for a few minutes she made him stir as her will commanded, and then she broke off the connection, panting gently. "Niko says if I get really good I could go into people's brains, but that seems cruel-like. You know?"

Jadis stared at the small girl. "Yes." he shivered, imagining the things some people could do if they had this girl's power. "I hope you're good about how you use It." he told her cautiously.

She saluted him, "Yes sir." she said like she had seen soldiers do in Sotat. "I get very tired whenever I do it anyway," she shrugged, took the tray of teas and carefully picked them up. The Thief's Ladies needed grace, and stability, Even more carefully she rearranged the cups until they were even across the tray and placed the thing on one hand, while carrying the pot in the other. "Bring the milk, and honey, please."

Jadis smiled, "Ma'am." the moment they came out into the dining room the smile once again slipped off his face and he became stiff.

Scatter frowned, Jadis could be polite, but now he seemed downright stiff. She carefully placed the pot on the little table the adults were sitting around, and then used both hands to place the tray in the center, where they could all reach. Then, she gave a tiny curtsey and walked back to the kitchen.

"I'll let you four alone..." said Jadis turning tail and heading back into the kitchen behind Scatter.

He found her unraveling her braids, both her weight rings were lying at her feet, her fringe, cutting across her forehead had fed into her braids, and now the hair had been freed, in curls it fell to her lower back. A few strands were in her mouth, a dirty habit she had picked up young; her nails had never been clean enough to bite. Round and round her finger she wrapped each individual curl. Her lower lip was caught in between her teeth. She was nervous, and that was that.

"What is it?" asked Jadis, concerned.

"Do you have a _lot_ of personalities? I mean any dangerous ones?"

"What?" asked, Jadis, flabbergasted.

"Well you were joking in here, and then you were all stiff-like in there, and then before you were Bag-like, I mean you acted rich, and then sometime in-between you acted like a kid. So I'm confused."

"Oh." said Jadis uncomfortably. How could he explain to her that he often put on a show for adults so they felt that everything was okay? They needed that odd comfort that nothing was out-of-place. He acted like he was expected to.

"I mean you offered me your home and all so I don't not-like you, you're very nice. But you have to admit-" she paused, considering, "I act the same way, don't I?"

"From what I've seen..." he said slowly.

"I wonder when they're going to be finished, I'm tired, and I want to move my stuff in. I don't have a lot, but it'd be nice to get it done."

"We can go in there now and ask." said Jadis, obviously relieved at the change of subject.

Scatter covered a yawn, "You can call me Scatter if you want. I tend to respond to my nickname more than my real name. Since it's been used so much and all."

Jadis nodded, not quite sure whether the girl was very smart or extremely stupid. "I'll go back and help carry your stuff." he felt glad to escape from the kitchen, being there with the girl was much like being examined under a magnifying glass.


	7. Lati loses her faith

Lati lay on the dirt. She was vaguely aware of a deep empty ache in her chest, bigger than it had been that morning, it made her hunger seem small, and her terrible thirst seem pointless. "Papa." Tears had dried on her cheeks, leaving them stiff and dirty, but now her body felt so empty, she had no tears left and her throat was tight and sore with the knowledge.

The sandy ground was digging into her cheek, and a piece of broken glass was lying precariously close to her ear.

_Dead_.

Her body felt on fire, her dress was scorched from the flames; it seemed ages ago that she washed it, and shivered with cold. Was it only two days? Her tongue was swollen and hurt from constantly scraping against the roof of her mouth. Had she swallowed glass and not noticed? Had she swallowed sand? Her throat burned. Water would be a good idea. But it required moving, and she didn't know if she had the strength for that. She opened her mouth to try and pray, but only a horrible grating sound came out and a fresh burst of fire flowed down her throat.

_Bad Idea_.

_Mother goddess, please, if you have a plan for me, if you care for me at all, either strike me down or save me, for surely this place where I lie, with the heat on my back, must be hell._

* * *

The first thing she noticed was pain, or the lack of; her body felt cool and clean and though she was sure that, any moment now, she's awaken truly and her body would be on fire once more she simple lay there, thankful that her heavy hair was no longer itching her face and heating her neck. That's when she opened her eyes and sat up, a fierce pain spreading through her body, despite the many healing potions that were coursing through her blood.

"Oh, you're awake."

"Where's my hair?"

"What?" Had she been aware of anything beside her self Lati would have been able to see the concern and kindness in the face of the water dedicate and the firm attention to the rules that all healers were known for.

"My hair! I want my hair! Where'd it go!" her hands were covered with bandages that snagged on the faintly growing hair on her head, she waved them wildly and would have been a comical sight had it not been for the look of anguish on her face.

"We had to cut it off, it was burnt and was attached to several infected wounds, and we had to get to some of the burns on your scalp. It's only hair lass." The woman was trying to be comforting, reaching to touch Lati's head, but thinking better of it, snatched her hand back.

Lati was curled up in a little ball of pain, her salty tears stinging the cuts on her knees, "It was my mother's hair, my mother's hair, my father always said, 'it's your mother's hair you got there lass, same colour, my curl!' They're gone, it's gone, my hair is gone! Everyone one is gone!" her fingers curled around a pillow and threw it, then pounded on the mattress and reached to grab hair that was no longer there slightly above her ears.

And finally when she slept; there was only one single, cohesive thought.

_Mother Goddess:_ _I am no longer your servant, no Deity I serve would do this to me. _


	8. Rikana Finds Dedicate Gorse

The Second Cirlce 

Author's Comments: Have I had writer's block for Rikana? No, of course not! I've just been on an extended this story vacation. Haha. Bad joke.

---

Rikana looked on in sheer jealousy as a man wearing fine clothes paraded through the street on his horse's back looking down scornfully at those that walked in the dirt below as though they were mere hoodlums parading around on his street. He was handsome in the classical sense but that look that gripped him as though he smelt something particularely unpleasant beneath him ruined him for her. He looked to be in his late thirties, early fourties. Definetely a noble. She was about to turn around when she smelt something she hadn't dared to think of in weeks. Food. Not slop that was served in the charity kitchens, but real food that smelt like garlic and onions and sweet berries and tropical fruits. Her empty stomach growled. She had always loved food. Cooking it, eating it, displaying it. All its aspects.

She smelt meat, too. She had spent more than a month in Summersea's slums, the Mire. It had taught her what it felt like to be hungry, and like other hungry people, it was all she could think about. And if she could only follow and snatch one chicken bone... A dish of rice. Would they mind? Would they notice? She had to try. She could stand the walk, as long as it was, if only it meant food at the end of it.

So she walked. She followed the rich man down through the Mire, through the land separating it from Winding Circle. She was certain that was where he headed. After all, there was nothing else in that direction. She blended into the staff that trailed him, thankful that no one raised a comment. No one seemed to notice the hungry girl with an unfamiliar face. She followed the man on his horse until the powerful smells of Winding Circle's Kitchens hit her. If there was one place where food, good food, would be served, it was Winding Cirlcle's Kitchens.

Dedicate Gorse found her, fed her and saw her fascination with the way her food was cooked. Seeing her curious eye he told her, come back tomorrow. She complied.

---

"You know what's strange?" said Rosethorn conversationally. She moved around the food on her plate aimlessly. Jadis wasn't paying particular attention.

"What?" asked Lark as she fed herself some rice pudding Dedicate Gorse had made too much of the other night. Meanwhile Jadis ate it sparingly. Yes, he was growing like some sort of weed but he wasn't really a food person. He liked it, sure, but he hated indulging, it always made him feel gross.

"A man who seemed to think very highly of himself was wandering around Winding Circle looking for Moonstream. It was strange. He seemed very angry about something that he refused to talk about and had this band of people following him around. I found Moonstream for him and she and Suben were talking for quite a while." she said this casually, not seeming to notice that in the last sentance she had shocked Jadis to the core. Her charge was gripping his fork with such force that his knuckles had turned white and his eyes seemed to pop from his head.

"Jadis is acting weird." Scatter noted, not making the connection this late at night. "Jadis, are you feeling okay? You look like you're having a seizure, which is never good, because when you have a seizure, usually every muscle in your body spasms and tenses, or soemtimes your brain is sending random neurons and so you start jerking around, except you're not right in the head, so you have no idea whats going on." She was very proud of her newfound knowlege. He ignored her, but he heard her all the same and that didn't help at all with his stress levels.

"Suben.. fer Tuvall?" he said, his voice struggling to sound at a normal octave. Rosethorn looked up, seemingly confused at his shock and horror.

"Isn't that your father, Jadis?" asked Lark kindly. Jadis nodded. He was tense. A badger could tell. Not that a badger seeing his frustration would do very much, or say very much. But, badgers were animals so it ought to mean something. He took in a few deep, silent, breaths to calm himself and put on his collected and calm and friendly face.

"Yes, yes that is. Did he mention me, by any chance?" he asked Rosethorn. She shook her head.

"I didn't know you were a Tuvall. I would have if he'd said anything though." the woman could have had more than a thousand thoughts running through her head at that very moment as she looked on intently at her charge. He put on his charming face.

"That's a pity then. I'll get the plates, alright?" he said with false warmth as he began to wash his dish. It looked like everyone else was still eating but he only felt like barfing. He wouldn't though, because healthy boys didn't barf after dinner. "Call me when you're finished, all right?" Rosethorn looked like she was about to say something but shook her head. It looked like if the boy stayed and talked any longer he would explode.

None of the females staring at Jadis's back said a word, but all three were thinking the same thing. What was up with Jadis?

* * *

Author's Note: Ooh.. Mystery... Kind of. Sort of. Well, review anyways! 


	9. Scatter and Teacher, Jadis and Daddy

**Author's note (s): This is a bit confusing becuae of the flashbackyforwardyness butI really hope you enjoy it. It is our longest chapter to date and we spent many, many hours working on it, and waiting on the computer to write it through the magic of msn. I'm thinking of fixing the info on our page as some of it is off, and the rest is notexistant so watch for that. As always R&R please!**

"Tophia, if you are going to care for patients, then you must focus, not stare off into the wall, no matter how fascinating its whiteness is."

"Oh, but dedicate teacher of mine, I was thinking of you and our first meeting, and thinking of just how far our relationship has progressed and surely that is reason enough not to keep my mind fully on the present." Wandering dedicates had to smile at the two, bickering like old cats, with similar sarcasm, one was younger and spoke sweetly, the other was older and spoke with a snap of authority, but they were more alike then either cared to admit.

"_Scatter, sit down and eat your porridge." Lark was calling for the girl, kind and motherly and firm. _

"_I'm coming," Scatter finished running up the stairs and waited until her legs felt like they could support her again. She had barely been able to stay still all morning and had taken to stampeding up and down the stairs to calm her queasy stomach. She ran to the table and began gulping down her tea even though it burned her tongue and scalded her throat. Her mouth had gone suddenly, very dry._

"_Scatter, slow down! you're going to make yourself throw up!"_

"_What if she won't take me? What if I'm not good enough, oh I'm going to fail I know it!"_

_"If you fail you can always try again, Scatter. People aren't going to hate you if you fail." Jadis said with a gentle, brotherly smile and daintily ate his breakfast as usual._

"_I'll hate me, she won't take me as her student." she bite off two huge bites of what was left of her toast, and danced out of the room with nerves she wouldn't admit, soon enough she began to hurdle herself up and down the stairs._

"_What on this earth is that girl doing? My aloe plants are not amused and neither am I." Rosethorn entered the room, grumpy and put out when the moment she came up, the stampeding stopped and they could hear drawers opening and closing._

_"She's nervous, Rosethorn. She thinks her teacher will hate her." Jadis replied with a bravery not many had. _

_They could hear her jumping down the stairs, "Why on earth did you change?" Lark asked looking the girl up and down, where before she had a pretty blue dress that was the colour of her eyes when she was relaxed, now she had on a white blouse, with s green overdress that captured the blouse in a square-ish neck. It fit her better than the other had, but now her hair was a mess of curls. _

_"Because she thought that if she changed her outfit her teacher would think better of her, because clothes mean everything, especially when you need to fix your hair."_

"_He's smart. Listen to him." Scatter ran fingers through hair that resisted firmly, "Now then, none of that, you stupid maukie curtain masquerading as hair." Is seemed to those that were watching carefully that the hair loosened slightly from its knots._

"_You've been reading the book Niko gave you?" Lark asked, she had been a bit apposed to getting the girl's future teacher to use the chemical in her brain to except the words and sounds and letters, but so far the only strange thing was just how often the girl locked herself in her room and would sound out words like a child of four, and the headaches she'd get afterwards.._

"_I've mostly been looking at the pictures." she admitted, tugging at her overdress and smoothing out invisible wrinkles._

_"If you need any help, I'll be happy to give it." said Jadis, who was a very avid, if incredibly slow, reader. Or, rather, he liked to read but didn't often._

"_Okay. Is it time to go?" at any other time Scatter would have been rebuked for her rude thoughtlessness but today it was allowed._

"_Better early than late I guess," Lark rolled her eyes and led the girl out of the cottage, past their garden with it's blooming flowers and further forward to the medical wing of the main building._

"_Is this her then?" Scatter could not have been caught more off guard if a dancing bear had flown through the window and asked her what the weather was like. Despite her worry she had pictured her teacher to be like Lark, kind but firm and motherly. The woman in front of her was tall and thin and she reminded her of a cane. Every part of her body was an angle from the next part and very stiff. Scatter felt like an ant beneath her gaze. When she had heard the name Dedicate Marjorie Gentlehand, she had assumed it was literal._

"_Hello, my name is Tophia, but you can call me Scatter, or Tophie." _

"_Scatter? What an incredibly strange name, and yet so common sounding. This cannot possibly be the girl you were referring to Dedicate Lark. She is merely a healing mage, or mayhap a _weak_ body mage. What on earth did you sense in her?"_

"_Scatter is a powerful body mage, and you are the only one qualified to teach her Marjorie." Lark drew Scatter to her chest, eyes level, "You and only you."_

_Marjorie narrowed her eyes, "Well come on then, Tophia, I guess I'll test your skills, I assume Niko has been teaching you a few things." it wasn't a question it was an assumption, and as Lark tried to follow them, Marjorie waved her off, "No Lark Dear, this is between me and Tophia, you can't get involved." Marjorie turned swiftly around and began to walk, Scatter followed her, giving Lark a last 'Please help me' look and a feeble wave. _

"_Tophia please name this part of the male genitals." _

_She couldn't from behind her hand, "but it's _gross._" _

"_It's a human body, please try to grow up Tophia, that face, with the outstretched tongue and crossed eyes, is entirely unseemly."_

_But Scatter was wandering away, towards the sound of crying. A girl perhaps a year older than herself, lay in a tight ball, her hair shorn short and spiky and her eyes dripping tears. "Hello, are you okay? What hurts?" _

_The girl glared at Scatter, "Everything. Go away." _

"_Your burns are healing very nicely." Scatter said politely, "Are you drinking enough? You seem rather dehydrated; all that crying can't be good for you." She tried to sense what her teacher was thinking, but she had no idea how. _

"_Are you stupid or something? I said go away, to all nine hells with my burns." _

"_I think you need fresh air, don't you think so Dedicate Gentlehands? Yes, fresh air is the cure." she distinctly remembered sounding out the title of a chapter called fresh air so it must be important right? Plus she knew she was one behind with the male gena-whats-its, she'd make this patient better, but even with all this happy positive thoughts she was surprised when the girl spoke;_

"_Are the violets out yet?" _

"_Only around Discipline, but if you feel strong enough I'm sure they'll let me take you there."_

"_Not you, not yet, someone else, you are tiring." Scatter felt her spirits go down and a slight frown come to her face, "Maybe next week. When I'm stronger."_

"_Scatter, come along now. Lati I'll get someone to take you to the violets. Scatter, come _along_. I'll talk to Lark now."_

"Jadis, please go to Tophia in the main room. There seems to be a disturbance there, probably just some noble who lost his favourite servant. Tell her to _please_ take care of it, it's making my work harder, the patients are resisting on a subconscious level. And he's _breaking_ my concentration."

Jadis nodded and got up from his chair, taking his sweet time walking into the Main Room. He hadn't really being paying attention to the sounds of the person yelling, but the sight of that person shook him. His father. "Hey... Dad..." he said quietly, sure that if Scatter saw him in the room she would expect him to be ridiculously thrilled to see his father. Unfortunately Scatter was already walking outside, fuming at the man. It was obvious she didn't care that he was with Moonstream, or that he could probably have her arrested. Jadis spotted her and jogged to catch up, praying to the gods that she didn't do anything to get him in trouble. If only there really were gods, because right now if they lent a hand it would be very nice.

"Excuse me Jadis, I now must go and yell at that man over there, you can help me, but don't you dare try to stop me."

Jadis grabbed her arm firmly. "Scatter," his voice was firm in a way she had never heard it be before, commanding and almost threatening, "You shouldn't go and yell at that man."

"Why on earth not? He's bothering my patients and disrupting the order and atmosphere of the medical wing, gods damn it, Jadis let go of my arm." it quickly began obvious Scatter did not respond well to authority.

Jadis didn't answer her. "It wouldn't be wise, Scatter. That man won't listen to you." putting it mildly, he thought.

"Well, mister I-have-a-rank-all-of-my-own, go tell him to calm himself down, some people actually need to work and he is making it many times harder than it should be." Scatter had a streak of blood across her cheek, and a bloody needle clutched firmly in her hand, if she wasn't only twelve, Jadis had no doubt she'd make a wonderful warrior princess.

"Personally I think it would be better if we just let them duke it out on their own." he replied.

"Nothing gets done if you let them 'duke it out on their own,'" egged on even further by their conversation Scatter nearly tore her arm out of his grip, and strode forward, "He has no right to involve everyone in his argument, he has no right to disturb us _peasants_." her last words were dripping with sarcasm.

Jadis rolled his eyes, "You know that's not what I mean. Sometimes people can become a little over-passionate and forget where they are..." he said, not sure why he was defending the man.

"I'm doing something even if you won't!"

"Please don't..." said Jadis as he bit down on his lip.

"Give me a reason." her voice was still filled with aggression, but she stopped, hands on hips, she obvious respected him enough to listen, however faintly.

Jadis didn't say the words rushing through his head. Instead he told her the simplest form of the truth, "He's my father."

"Oh… _oh_." having no memories of her own parents, besides a whispered lullaby swimming through her head or a male voice trying to sooth her, Scatter wasn't sure whether that was a legitimate reason to avoid this man, but she simply loosened her hold on the bloody needle, "Fine then."

Jadis's face visibly released. "Thank you." he said sincerely. "Do you think we could go back inside now?"

"Is that it then? I thought you were going to do something, seeing as he _is_ your father, I was just backing off," her eyes widened in surprise at the look on his face, "Jadis, you _are_ going to do something aren't you?"

Her wide eyes made him feel horrible, but the very thought of confronting his father gave him a burning feeling in his chest. "Well, I mean..."

"Won't you at least tell him to shut up? I mean it Jadis, the atmosphere is terrible in the hospital right now, and for your sake I won't go after your _father_." there was a note of scorn in the word, "but gods help me if he doesn't move this argument somewhere else I will stick this needle in him!"

"I can try." he forced his mind to go blank. Whatever was to happen next wouldn't matter, as long as Scatter wasn't hurt. He gathered up every ounce of bravery he had and walked over to his father. "Father?" he said in a neutral tone. His father turned and looked him up and down.

"What are you doing here, Jadis?" he asked.

"You're disturbing the patients and I thought it would be nice if you were to quiet down..." with each word his confidence faded and his father's glare was more intense.

"Jadis, it would be wise of you to let adult matters be dealt with by adults." he said in his 'I'll deal with you later, and it'll be worse if you don't back off now' tone.

"Yes, father." Jadis looked down, ashamed that he could be so easily defeated, and that Scatter had witnessed it. He couldn't face her right now, he thought, and walked right past her into the infirmary.

For a moment it looked like Scatter might go after the man, but she owed it to Jadis to walk away. It wasn't hard to sense his embarrassment, and Scatter stopped walking and started again much slower to allow him to be alone, perhaps she had learned a little from her harsh teacher. Quietly, and very much to herself, Scatter whispered, "Thank you, Jadis. You tried."


	10. Jadis, Dreams, Lati

The Second Circle

Author's Note: Jeez, I am such a mean author. I feel so sorry for Jadis. On the bright side, however, I successfully made bread today. And it was tasty, too! A few friends were over and between them and my dad and his girlfriend the entire loaf was downed in about an hour or two. That makes me happy. It makes me laugh, too, now I think of it, but it also makes me happy as a cook.

----

Darkness fell that night and Jadis was swept away in memories. Soon the primal need of sleep overtook him and to that he fell, but his horrors haunted him even in sleeping. He was young in this dream. Four, perhaps, and he had come back late from playing in the woods with his friends. A hand loomed overhead of him and grabbed him by the hair, pulling him upwards. He screamed and screamed but his cries weren't asnwered. He whimpered and plead to his torturer for forgiveness, for the pain to stop but nothing he could say or do would make it stop. The worst part was not understand why he was hated so much by this person. It was because he was being bad. He would never be bad again if only it could make it stop. He was set down and was forced to lay on the floor. Then he was hit, and hit until he was bruised and hurt and he didn't feel human anymore. Why didn't he love him? Childish tears dripped from his eyes and he was kicked harder. "Men don't cry!" he was told.

It stopped, and leather boots walked away from the beaten boy. He struggled to breathe. What would Mommy say? Did Mommy still love him? Or was she like Daddy? He relaxed on the cold stone floor. It hurt too much to move, anyway. There were footsteps nearing him and he tensed, readying himself for another beating, but this time the feet sounded small and dainty. A woman, not a man. Was it Mommy? He forced an eye open. No, it couldn't be Mommy. The figure in a fine white dress knelt down and gently picked him up.

"Jadis?" she asked as the little boy rested against her warm body. "Who did this to you?" he was sure she knew, so he didn't answer. Daddy had told him before, if he ever said a word... When he didn't answer she said, "I'll take you to Mommy." Jadis was too weak to argue, and only fell asleep to the gently rocking movements of her walk. The door was opened and he heard his sister talk to Mommy. "What should I do?" she asked.

"I don't care Clarissa. Take him to the nurse, I guess. Do you know what he did this time?" she asked, sounding completely preoccupied. Jadis felt Clarissa's body stiffen in anger under him.

"No, but it looks like someone beat him up." she said tersely to her mother. Mommy laughed.

"Silly boy, always getting into fights. You may go now." he heard her say and he felt his heart sink. Mommy didn't care either. He only had Clarissa. He felt her walking again and she soon spoke to a servant to get a healer, then sat on one of the house's comfortable couches.

"Clari?" he whimpered, needing to know the answer to his fervent question.

"Yeah, Jadis?" she replied.

"Do you love me?" he asked, a note of desperation in his voice. She held him tightly to her and gave him a light kiss on the head.

"Yes Jadis, I love you." he relaxed at these words, sure now that everything would be okay now that Clari loved him.

Basked in the bittersweet light of the memory Jadis relaxed in his sleep. Then the peaceful image of his golden sister began to slip from his fingers and fade into a clearer image of just a few years ago. He was reading outside on his porch, out of the corner of his eye watching the distant horse-back riders galloping through the forrest and feeding his over-active imagination. He was reading a good book, his favorite. A figure stood up on their horse and called out to him. "Jadis! I'm going to do a leap!" he heard. She could be very loud when she wanted to. He grinned and got up to watch by the railing. Clarissa was an amazing rider. She was riding, galloping, faster and faster and jumped over a wide creek, but then the horse's hoof hit a rock and it fell off balance and heavily hit the ground and hit the ground. Jadis's eyes widened in alarm. Where was Clari? Then he spotted her, her head bleeding and cracked on top of the fatal rock. He screamed. No, this wasn't happening. Not to Clari, not his beacon of light in the world that to him was so bleak and dim. He screamed again and ran and ran. He got a servant, yelling he told them to get a healer, to get a healer! He ran and ran to the stables and got up onto his horse in such a fervent rush that the horse could only pick up on his fear and speed. He stopped the horse as he reached his sister. Her friends were picking her up, but she was already dead. The pointy rock had cracked open her head. She wasn't even Clari anymore, and blood spilled into the water. Vomit swept into his throat and he vomited. His sister was dead.

No! Not Clari! But she was, she was dead and it was all over. He was all alone in this dim, lonely world. He fell to his knees and cried. He was all alone.

He was up in a cold sweat, his breathing harsh. He pinched himself. He didn't want to remember, he couldn't remember, not this. He jumped from his bed and paced the room and tried to rid himself of the memory of Clari's dead, limp body. He needed something to drink. Something hot and relaxing. He walked out into the kitchen to prepare something.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Lati had her sun browned hands around a ceramic mug, mint tea eminating from it, Her hazel eyes flashed over him, and then looked away, "I heard you trying not to scream, if that makes any sense. Who's Clari?"

"My sister." he said, and helped himself to some mint tea. "She died." he explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Lati contemplated this, "Was she your only sister? I mean you don't have to tell me, I know I wouldn't want anyone to ask my about my dad- I mean sister, if she died. You can tell me to be quiet."

"Yeah she was my only sister..." he sat next to her and looked into her eyes, looking for someone whose heart shared a likeness to his. Would she understand? "Did your father die?" he asked.

"Yeah, Raiders killed him, and my mother before him. It seemed that everyone who loved me was suddenly gone and I was left all alone in a world with no-one to care whether I lived or died. It's the emptiest feeling in the world." she paused, maybe seeing something in his eyes, "Isn't it?"

He nodded. It was. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, for once feeling completely sincere.

"I don't... talk that much, I don't know what to say. I mean, how do you take all this emotion in your body and turn it into words, into sounds?" she said. Jadis had to agree with her words.

"You don't." it was simple really. After all, who really cared how much you suffered? You were just one person. Someone insignificant too. He was.

"I'm going to watch the sunrise. You can come too if you want. But be quiet." Istead of going up the stairs and stepping from her window ledge onto the roof, Lati went outside, the dew helping her grip the walls of the building.

"I'll meet you at the top," he said with a half-hearted smile and went up to the roof the more conventional way. It was quicker too, he found as he nestled himself into his seat. It was pretty amazing though, how she could just climb up a wall like that. He could never do it. He could ride horses going forty miles an hour, he could pin someone with a sword, but he would never be able to do that.

"I love being on top of everything," Lati said, more to herself than him, she was seated with her arms around her knees resting her head on her knees. "I love sunrises."

He agreed with her. It was strange though, how every word she spoke resonated in him. It meant something. It was true, not only for her, but for him too. He gave a tentative nod. "They're more than just beautiful, it's the world starting itself all over again." He found himself entranced. The world's wonders had left him breathless since he could see. They had always made him feel important somehow.

Lati stretched back, sprawling on the roof, watching the stars disappear. "This isn't where I pictured myself. I thought I'd be at home, with my hair long and with my dad and the apples would be coming out, and we'd roast them on special nights. I din't think for even one second that I'd end up in winding circle, able to do magic." she paused, "I don't think I can do magic."

"Me neither. Moonstream says I do, but I've never done anything magical before. What kind of magic do they say you have?" he asked.

"Academic, Plant." Lati shrugged, the shingles of the roof cold and a little rough through her night gown, "I really don't feel different, I mean, I remember hurting someone, faintly, but nothing else. I could have done as much with my fists or nails."

"When?" he asked, feeling curious. It vaguely occured to him to think of where Scatter was right now. He hoped she was sleeping well.

"I have an idea." Lati said, ignoring him completely, "Lets meditate, I saw some dedicates doing it and I want to try, see what happens." Jadis smiled, having done that same avoidence tactic many a time. Never the one to go against the general consensus, he shrugged.

"Sure, I guess." he said, struggling to remember how they had done it. He crossed his legs, then put them back in fear that he would fall of the roof. He closed his eyes and relaxed his breathing. What was the count again? Five in, seven out? Yes, that was it. In, out, in out. Occasionally his dreams would surface into his mind, but then he would push them back. An exmpty mind was a controlled one, and if anyone had control it was him.

Lati closed her eyes, focused on her breathing. She resisted the urge to hum along with a bee far away. Inhale, exhale. Breath in, out, in, out. Slowly she relaxed, feeling each muscle loosen. Then she fell asleep.

Feeling relaxed he opened his eyes. Everything around him seemed to glow. It was like he was a newborn child, the whole world was new and good. He felt calm and relaxed. He turned his head to face Lati. She was sleeping. He grinned and nudged her. "You missed the sunrise."

"Nu-uh." came her sleepy response, "I felt it. It was beautiful." With sleepy steps she stood up, "We better start getting back down before Lark Gets worried."

Jadis gripped her arm and gently led her down to the attic. He didn't think it was quite safe for her to be climbing walls in this state. Down from the attic they meandered into the kitchen where the smell of mint filled the air. Neither of them had finished their teas. 


	11. Bonus Chapter: Scatter

**Author's note**: **Welcome to the Bonus chapter, involving Scatter and her magic incident. See, Me and Liarra are currently undergoing the age old tradition of exams, this makes getting our story updated very very difficult. So I, in my inspired genious at one in the morning, decided to make you all a bonus chapter. It's short but hopefully will keep you psyched for the next chapter. For every twenty reviews we get,Liarra and I alternate writing Chapters featuring (usually) justone character and you get to go a little deeper into their minds.You can give suggestions aboutwhat the chapter should be about (i.e. Scatter and Jadis tlaking about Scatter's past, etc) Well I left you with a cliffie because I'm bad and don't study very ahrd, so It'll be me with the next chapter. Remember to R&R**

Scatter quietly labored over a book, her gaze was uncertain when she came to certain words but she skipped over them and tried to understand the gist of it. When she finished reading she settled and began to meditate, in, out, in, out. It always took her awhile to get her thoughts settled. They flew like little birds, this way and that, wondering why Gorse was making so much food and if she could have some, she tried to picture the Thief Lord, angry at her capture. Then her thoughts floated over to Jadis, and she breathed contentedly, she liked having a friend who wouldn't begrudge her the favor of the Thief Lord. Then there was Lati who was quiet and shy, and sad, but good for talking to about what plants to use for salves and gardens and all the things that made Scatter fall asleep.

Finally she managed to calm and focus herself, she pictured a role of gauze, tightly winding her magic, only to watch it spring apart. With renewed resolution Scatter focus her energy and magic into one spot, holding it until it unwound, slower this time. This had been much easier when Dedicate GentleHands could help her. Disgruntled at being denied by none other than her own magic Scatter forced it to wind, this way and that, holding it in place. It fought her control. Scatter opened one eye, the blue of the sky blinding and hypnotic at the same time then saw a feathered little bird, rising on the wind. _Fine_ she thought to herself, _you want to roam? You might as well fly too_! She began to wind her magic into the form of a bird, it seemed to be happy there, and though she knew her mind was not empty she figured it worked just as well.

Then her bird escaped her grasp.

Scatter watched it fly never sure which was her bird and which was the real one, her eyes scanned the horizon, uncertainty and fear in her gaze, He body felt limp and weak and dizzy and she tried to move and only fell to the ground. Both birds were coming towards her and one slammed into her chest.

"Scatter! Wake up."

Scatter opened her eyes, her body still wouldn't move and it felt sore and useless.

"Don't move Scatter." Scatter didn't listen, she turn from her back and vomited instantly.

"Scatter, you have to tell us what you did."

"I can't remember." Why did her back feel so heavy, and why was it so itchy?

"Scatter, you've done something to yourself." Lark was smoothing her hair back from her face, concern in her gaze.

"My head is woozy." Scatter watched as there were suddenly two, and then three of Lark.

"That's because you did a large magical working." Dedicate Marjorie was looking as concerned as anyone.

"Yeah?" Scatter's eyes began to close, she was so tired.

You gave yourself wings."


	12. Jadis and Sandry?

Second Circle 

Author's Note: 1 exam down, two to go. (If you're saying 'Huh?' right now it's because I'm in the semester system. So much better, in my opinion, but whatever.)

* * *

Jadis sat down by the ocean, feeling the soothing calm of the steady wash of the waves. He was now able to think things through rationally, or as rationally as one could when their best friend had just sprouted wings. To be honest it was only bloody scary. He wasn't angry (a tad bit jealous, maybe, he had always wanted to sprout wings and fly away) or frightened. He wondered if she would be okay. The thought that she wouldn't sent a chill up his spine and he pushed the thought away. 

"I didn't think anyone else would be here." said a warm voice. Jadis turned his head to a maiden that pulsed with power, but gentle power of silk and thread. She had soft brown hair and gentle eyes. She held something so famililar about her, that he couldn't place for a moment or two until he remembered. She was Lady Sandrilene fa Toren, heir to the throne of Emelan. He had seen her before at court functions, but they had never talked very much. She wasn't too fond of his father. "May I sit?" she asked, gesturing toward the earth beside him. He nodded silently, his thoughts on hold. She stared at him for a few minutes. "I'm sure I've seen you before. Would I know you from anywhere?"

"I'm staying with Lark and Rosethorn at the moment." he said, knowing that she too had stayed with the women. Her face split into a beaming smile.

"Oh, you are? How is it?" Jadis shrugged, not really wanting to tell her that it was fairly odd at the moment, what with Scatter's wings and whatnot. "I remember when we first came to stay there, Tris, Briar, Daja and I, that is, we had no idea that we had magic. We found out at the fair when Tris made a water funnel to protect Little Bear." she sighed. Jadis realized that the dog must have died. After all, the girls were something like twenty eight now. The dog would be eighteen years old. "I suppose I'll see you again soon, because I'm coming to visit. I've been saving the best for last. Lark getting Dedicate Gorse to cook my favorite." she glanced nervously to the side. This boy was awfully quiet. A lot like another boy she had met, Suben fer Tuvall's boy. The thought of him made her lip curl in disgust. An awful man, he was selfish and angry and greedy. It was like the gods had stuffed all of the 7 sins into one person, and then made him a man of very high standing. She wasn't too sure of the man's son, though. He would always get up from the table and sit on the balcony. He would never dance. He always just disappeared from the fun. Especially since his sister had died. Now, she had been a nice girl. Fun-loving, kindhearted, Clarissa had brightened everybody's day. Suddenly suspicious she had a double take. He looked an awful lot like Jadis fer Tuvall. "Wait! Are you Jadis fer Tuvall?" she asked. Jadis nodded. "Oh I knew it was you!" she grinned and he gave her a shy smile, a bit annoyed that she was disrupting his peace. "How did you end up here?" she asked, thinking that he'd better not shrug again because it was really getting on her nerves.

"I was studying in the temples and then one day I lost control of my magic. It was raining on me alone inside the banquet hall so they sent me to Discipline." he said shortly.

"Oh," she began and Jadis had a funny feeling she was about to start talking again.

"I'd better go," he said abruptly. Disapointed she nodded.

"Okay, I'll see you at dinner." she replied.

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Author's Note: Woah... what a short chapter. O.o I hope you enjoy it though. We've decided to try this new thing called 'updating more'. We'll se how it goes. We love each and every one of your reviews, so review soon! 


	13. Lati gets mad

**Author's note: Yeah another short chapter but I have a better excuse than Liarra! I was in San Diego. Again this is a one' o'clock in the morning story little chapter. Yeah I've decided that not everyone will be as understanding to Scatter's predicament. As always review, review, review! We love you no matter what, but even mroe if you review. And a warm welcome to our new readers!**

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** Lati was sitting quietly in the garden. She wanted to try meditation again but after what happened to Scatter she doubted she would, or even could get that same sense of calm. "Mother Goddess!" she screamed suddenly, standing and throwing a rock against the wall. She had forgotten she had discontinued her service to the deity. "That idiot!" They all knew that to meditate properly and to even try to gain control of their magic they needed to focus. "Why in all seven hells couldn't you focus on one tashing thing!" She shook with rage, calling on the swear word her father would have slapped her for saying. Not only had Scatter gotten them all worried, along with wearing down the nerves of all the adults and children alike but she and Jadis weren't allowed to try _anything_ without a teacher there. "There goes our freedom Scatter! Say bye-bye freedom, bye-bye!"

She owed the girl her home. Everyday Scatter had come to see how she was doing and bring her violets, and then one day Scatter began to pester her teacher to let Lati come to Discipline. She had argued that Niko said Lati had plant magic, along with Academic magic, thus she was a mage, and thus she could go to Discipline. Scatter, like her nickname suggested, had a very short attention span, however the moment that it could be focused, she was like a determined bull. Try to get in her way and get bowled over.

So why was she so mad at her? She wanted to hit her for being so stupid, and shake her for doing this to herself, and kick her for not paying attention! Scatter could be so self absorbed!

A sun flower began to twist around her arm. "It's not your fault." She murmured to the plant, "I'm not mad at _you_."

"You remind me of someone," came a sweet amused voice from behind her. In her panic Lati nearly tore the flower from the wall, at the last moment calming herself and staying in one spot. She untwined the plant and turned to look at Lady Sandrilene Fa Toren. "I'm sorry, did I scare you?"

"Just jumpy." Lati murmured, remembering she was supposed to be picking herbs. "Tough day."

"Yes I suppose so, people don't sprout wings every day."

"No, they don't." Lati bent down and stared at the parsley, mint, and basil for a moment. Mint was her favourite but you couldn't really put mint in noodles, or in thick beef stew. She'd pick some anyway, for tea.

"You sounded mad before." Lati's head snapped up, how was this _her _business?

"I am. What gives any one person the right to ruin someone else's day? I wanted to meditate. I was planning on seeing if the barn cat has given birth yet. I was going to sing for you. But I can't meditate because I'm not allowed; I've spent all day brewing things to give Scatter and Dedicate Marjorie energy and to keep swelling down, to numb Scatter's pain. And the smoke from the fire has destroyed my throat. I have a right to be mad… I don't know why I'm telling you this."

"Well I'm not quite sure either." Lady Sandrilene's voice was thick with amusement, "But I might be able to help you on one count, Lati is it? Care to meditate with me?"

Speechless, Lati simple nodded. "I'd like that very much."


	14. Rika gets drunk and delivers flan

Second Circle 

Author's Note: Rent has taken over my head, and I have found the right place in my voice! Wooot! Not that many people will quite understand that, but if you are a singer and I you have experienced the same phenomena then you will get it. Otherwise, good luck. Or even if you aren't a singer you might get it. Oh well, you either get what I'm talking about or you don't. Oh dear. I'm rambling again, aren't I?

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Rikana's head hurt. A lot. No, that was an understatement. She felt as though an army of horses had just trampled over her head, and then realized that they hadn't done enough damage so they decided to go back again. It was then that she vowed to never ever drink again. Ever. Not only did the stuff taste bad but she could have sworn that she had stuck her hand in some flames or something... She checked, and sure enough there were some scorch marks. Nothing serious but she would have to stir with the other hand for a while. Why had she even done it again? Then she remembered and it was like one of those 'Aha!' moments. Amar. He was the most beautiful boy she had ever met. He had dark skin like hers, and gentle, soft curls. His eyes were the most luscious shade of brown. He was tall, but only a palm's length more than her. She had been feeling particularely depressed yesterday. She had seen Pukar earlier on and he barely seemed to be getting any better. She thought she might be stuck alone in Summersea forever. She was walking out of the gates when she had seen Amar. She had looked at him, and he had looked at her, and he had come up to her. He invited her out and she readily accepted. It beat spending another night alone any day. One thing had led to another and soon there were drinks around and she took a few. At some point or another she had blanked out and now she was here, wherever here was.

She pushed herself up from the gross, sticky floor and took a look around. She looked on in confusion. Was she in a stables? And if she was, how on earth did she get here? She delicately pushed herself up from the ground to get a better view. The better view was very unappealing. It looked like the stable hadn't been cleaned in a while. She wrinkled her nose. Maybe she should tell Dedicate Gorse? Surely they could be treating their horses better than this. In the meantime, she needed to get to a cleaner.

She found her way to the baths and gave her stinking garment to a woman in charge of the laundry division. She honestly did feel sorry for her. It was gross and it stank. People should not have to handle gross and stinking garments. She cleaned up, all the while wincing in pain at the sound of the incessant chatter of the other women. Didn't they know that it was cruel to talk around a girl with a hangover? She finished in a hurry, Dedicate Gorse's kitchens in mind. He didn't like it when people arrived late. Sometimes they tried to just slip in, but that just annoyed him even more so she just decided to walk right in. She would walk right in and admit that she had been partying all night and woke up late. It was then, as she walked into his kitchen that she was ambushed by sound. Her brain seemed to juggle around inside her head. Oh dear. If only it would stop!

"Rikana?" boomed Dedicate Gorse. Rikana's head was hung low. She knew how to act when she was in trouble-she had been so enough times. Of course, then it was usually saying the wrong thing or not using the right words or chasing away a customer (after that she hadn't been allowed in the room when deals were being made), but she had learnt a long time ago. "What's wrong?" he asked, seeming genuinely confused at her behaviour. She only wished he wasn't so loud.

"I'm late." she braced herself.

"Everyone's late once in a while. This is your first time. Rami is making some rice pudding for supper. Help him out will you? And try to memorize the recipe. It's pretty basic and it's Moonstream's favorite dish." he said briskly and hurried her along with his usual smile. Relief washed over her, dimming the continual thud in her mind.

"Hey Rika. I saw you at the party last night, now that was wild. I never knew you were that... outgoing." he finally settled on the word and Rika froze at the thought of what she must have done. And Rami had never talked to her before. of course there had been the occasional glance, but nothing more than that.

"What do you mean?" she asked, trying to sound playful and not betray the fear in her heart.

"Well you and Amar seemed to be having quite a lot of fun on that tabletop if you know what I mean." Rika narrowed her eyes. What did he mean? There it was, panic. What had she done last night? Why had he mentioned Amar too? She suddenly felt like she was about to throw up. She had been on the verge of it all morning but this topped it all off. She really needed to go barf right now. Clutching her hand to her mouth she raced from the Hub and bent over a patch of dirt, letting her retch run free. Now that was disgusting. She really did hope she wouldn't turn into one of those pathetic drunks who were always begging for money. Or what if she had done something really awful last night and someone recruited her as a prostitute, and they had proof and there was nothing she could do, and then they got her addicted to drugs? She would never ever drink ever again.

That night she saw Amar again. He came up to her and locked her lips with his. She was instantly drugged. His mouth, his scent, his eyes. The way he looked at her, like she was the only girl in the world. He drew her in to him. "Lets go." he whispered in her ear. She nodded, too giddy to even notice that the night before would repeat itself.

This time she woke up without her top.

She couldn't remember the night before. She didn't know what she had done, but it must have been something bad, because now her top was gone. She was doomed, she would never be married. No one would ever love her. All these thoughts flashed through her mind as she thought of the night before. She couldn't remember a thing after showing those guys her legs... Oh lord. Had she really done that? She winced at the memory.

That day Gorse wasn't as easy-going, making her cook some risotto and handle the deliveries. That afternoon he told her, "Rika, don't keep going out and getting drunk like this, it's ruining your chances. I'll let it slide, once, twice, maybe even three times, but it isn't looking good for you right now." she had winced and promised she would never do it again. She only hoped she would actually keep her promise. She had never met anyone like Amar. He was so entrancing, so hot. He made her knees melt and her heart beat faster than it ever had before. She liked him, and he liked her too. But nonetheless she nodded. She loved to cook. She loved it more than Amar.

"Rika," he said, "Empress Sandrilene is here for dinner today at Discipline Cottage. I'm giving you this to deliver. Be quick, and be sweet. They'll want to get on with their meal." she nodded and took the basket. Taking a quick peak inside it was a pretty fruit covered flan. It looked very good. She could probably make that, too.

She knocked on the door politely. "Who is it?" someone inside called.

"I'm here to deliver dessert?" called Rika. She had seen this place, but had never been in it and wasn't sure whether or not this was actually Discipline.

"Bring it in then." said the woman. She looked to be in her fourties, with a youthful page-cut hairstyle and playful brown eyes. "Will you take some to the second door down?" she asked. Rikana nodded, she didn't really have a choice but to obey the woman's wishes. If she didn't she might find herself tied up into a ball. She cut a piece from the flan and put it on a plate to take to the second door down, not even sure who she would s ee once she came inside.

A young girl was curled up in a cot, the covers at her feet. She was looking at said covers with focused eyes, not even glancing up at Rikana when she entered. She was very pale underneath a commoner's tan, and deep circles were set underneath greenish blue eyes.

"Um... I've brought you some flan." said Rikana nervously. Wasn't this where the mageborns lived? WHy hadn't she remembered that before? WHat if this girl decided to chop off her head or something because she didn't bring it to her right. Or worse, what if she didn't like the flan? She had helped to make it!

"Okay. You had a hangover didn't you? I hope you know drinking excessivly is bad for the liver." The girl gave Rikana a small smile, "Could you pull those cover's up? I'm very cold." Rika narrowed her eyes. She placed the flan by the bed, and helped the girl with her covers, silently fuming. She pretended it was because she had been asked to pull up the covers like she was some kind of maid, but really it was because the girl had noticed she was still recovering from a hangover.

"Well I don't drink excessively." Often. Just those two times! Before that she had never touched an alchaholic drink. Of course, the last two night she had stopped being able to remember what had happened so that couldn't be a good sign, but she wasn't going to tell this little brat that.

"Good for you, what did you say this was?" She wiggled deeper into the covers, wincing. She glanced at the dessert, one eyebrow riding up. "I've never seen anything like it. Is it foreign?"

Rikana relaxed at the introduction to a more familiar and comfortable topic. "Yes, it is actually. It's from Namorn. Which I must admit it odd, because Sandry is known to be fairly unfond of the place."

"Wow." The girl looked properly amazed, "I've never had anything Namornese, is it any good?" she glanced over at a thin woman asleep in a chair, "I'm Tophie, but you can call me Scatter, except Master Niko says I'm an idiot. What's your name? When did you start in the kitchen?"

"It's really good." Rikana grinned. "I'm Rikana, but most people call be Rika. I started in the kitchen about a month ago. Why would Master Niko say you were an idiot? Because I can call you Scatter?" She gestured to the flan. SHe really did like it when people ate her food. She, too, then glanced at the thin woman asleep on the chair and couldn't help but wonder who she was, but didn't ask.

"Nope, he says I'm an idiot because I gave myself wings, which isn't really my fault." She gave the plate with the flan on it the same focused look she had given her blankets. "I don't suppose you could help me grab that plate?" Rikana smiled a moment after she forced the confused look on her face to disappear. This girl gave herself wings? She brought the girl's plate to her and cut her a piece of flan.

She put the fork in front of her mouth and said, "Open wide, or else it'll dribble down your chin."

Scatter opened her mouth, two unbecoming splotches of red spreading over her cheeks. "Mmm." she managed, her stomache roiling angrily at the food. It really was good, rich and sweet. Not a good combination on an empty stomache. SHe shuddered and tried to huddle deeper into her covers.

Rikana pulled the flan away, concerned. "Are you okay?" she put the flan on the bedside table.

Scatter tried not to look directly at Rikana, "I don't feel so good." she murmured, "But it really is delicious." she added, directing a smile at the girl. "I'm just- idiotic." She directed a look at the woman, "Could you leave her a slice? I'm not sure how much Dedicate Majorie will approve but it might sweeten her nature."

Rikana nodded at her request and went to the kitchen to cut up a piece. She came back with a new piece of flan on a plate with a fork, and left it next to the other one. "Should I tell someone you're not feeling very good?"

"No, I'll be okay." her cheery nature was back in place, "It's my own fault, besides it'll go away." with a great deal of effort she rolled over to her stomach and pillowed her head with her hands, "Thank you very much Rikana." she all but whispered in an increasingly sleepy tone. "Would you pull my blanket up again before you leave?"

Rika was pulling the sheets up as asked and left the room. She walked down the stairs and left Discipline. The moment the door closed on her Lark said, "Is it just me or do you sense something from her?" Rosethorn savoured the flan on her tongue.

"Maybe."

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Ooh, someone might possibly finally be going to Discipline. This is Liarra. I'm sleepy, which explains the sad-o ending. Well, if you like it then just forget what i just said. Well, I only just wrote like a paragraph recently so it isn't all crappy. I quite like it, mostly because Rikana isn't perfect anymore. Yay! Of course, let's hope for her sake that she doesn't become an alchaholic.  
+ I finished my Alina story at 71,000 words, 80 pages in size ten print single spaced and 113 in size twelve single spaced. Yay! I'm happy. I've just begun editing it. The beginning is good so far... Anyways, read and review, because we love you mucho and hopefully you love us too!


	15. One month later

**Bella: Yep, we pretty much fail at life but we really did dedicate ourselves to this chapter and to getting them all together and talking and maybe you'll even detect some foreshadowing. gasp Anyways we hope you enjoy our return to this story and even though we don't deserve your reviews we'd like to beg you for them anyway. **

Scatter settled herself on the roof. It was the first time she'd been allowed out of bed in ages and she fully meant to enjoy it by watching the sunset, which had the added advantage of not lecturing her like Dedicate Majorie did. Before she knew it Lati, Jadis and Rika had scrambled onto the roof with her. Recently Rikana had been delivering all of Scatter's food and she spent more time in Disciplines kitchen than Gorse's. 'It's like she's moved in.' Lati had commented, not in a mean way, just in a since-you-can't-leave-your-bed-I-better-keep-you-updated kind of way. 'She might have culinary magic.' Scatter was very pleased with this development, for besides the fact the Rika was a rather nice girl who didn't begrudge the fact she had to spoon feed Scatter for more than a week, she was also a very good cook, and if Scatter truly cared for anything; it was food.

"Do you come here often?" asked Rika, coming with some very tasty looking buns.

All of them nodded, Scatter grabbed two buns, stuffed one in her mouth and tied the other into her apron, Lati grabbed one, split it in half and handed the other side to Jadis. Scatter made happy sounds before dropping her head in Lati's lap, asking for her to braid her unruly gold locks, which Lati did, bringing out a hard brush.

"Are you moving in, Rika?" Lati asked as she did so.

She shook her head. "Why would I be? I don't have magic like the rest of you. And anyways, it would be unfair to Pukar."

Scatter murmured from her place on the roof, "You do too have magic. Who's Pukar. Is he your boyfriend?" Scatter crawled over to Jadis once Lati had wrapped both weight rings in her braids. She settled on Jadis' lap, she liked his velvet and satin covered body better than Lati's rough cotton one.

Jadis awkwardly patted her head, unused to the whole girl's-head-in-his-lap thing. Rika, in the meantime, was blushing. "My boyfriend? No! I mean, I don't like him _that_ way, but yeah, he's a very, very good friend." her face turned even redder.

Lati started giggling, "If your face was any redder, I'd think it was a rose." She ran her hands over her own hair, now nearly two inches long and thick. It helped her think.

Scatter, who had only a few seconds ago realized they were talking seriously about boys and "feelings" squirmed uncomfortably. She was only recently aware that boys were even a species that girl should interact with on more than a friends level. "Jadis." she whispered, "Why are they giggling and blushing so much? I didn't mean anything by saying Pukar was Rika's boyfriend." She herself blushed deeper than even Rika had and lifted her head from Jadis' lap. Her back twinged painfully and suddenly coming on the roof with all these kids who were older than her and had their little _gender knowingness_ was not her idea of fun.

"Well..." whispered Jadis, feeling more than a little bit uncomfortable. "I guess Rika thought you did... Truth be told I'm just as uncomfortable with this as you are. I'm not used to gaggles of giggling girls."

"Where is this _Pukar _hiding?"Lati said, still giggling before smoothing her skirt.

Rika shyly twisted a finger around a long wavy brown lock. "Urda's House." she said quietly.

"And why isn't he here instead? Our infirmary is far cleaner and better equipped. We wouldn't want your _friend_ to get any sicker."

Rika bit her lip regretfully. "I don't know... he's... His family wouldn't be able to find him if he left, and they don't have the money to pay for it."

"Winding Circle is free, Rika, and since you're a mage, you could probably make a deal with Dedicate Moonstream." Lati had quit her teasing tone and become instantly business like, "I'll talk to Lark if you'd like that. Maybe Pukar could work here once he gets better! Is he any good with tools?"

Rika looked very uncomfortable. "That would be nice but... but that may not be a wise choice."

"Why ever not?" Lati made her eyes big and innocent like when she would try to convince her father to let her have the last sweet. The memory burned her, but she simply shook her head and repeated, "Why not?"

Rika muttered something so quietly that it was incomprehensible.

Scatter leaned forward, no longer comfortable on Jadis' lap. She pushed her ear nearly to Rika's mouth and ordered imperiously, "Say that again."

"He's a trader." she said painfully.

Jadis's body became suddenly stiff with horror. A trader! He had been conversing with a friend of a trader?

"What? Are you one of them, too?"

Still very close to Rika, Scatter enquired; "So?" Lati pulled the girl into her lap and began to re-braid her hair. "Where I came from- I mean, at my father's castle we had Traders' along with everyones else. Sure they were outcasted traders but still. Mage Daja was a trader." Scatter fingered her Daja necklace.

"How can you act as though it's okay, normal even? They're disgusting! Brutal! Those clubs they take everywhere with them-"

Scatter stood up suddenly, violently, her weight rings dropped on Lati who didn't even cry out. Scatter pointed angrily at the sunset "The _earth_ doesn't care about that and I don't either! Are you also against prostitutes and orphans and…" she sputtered angrily, pushing Lati, who was trying to calm her away, "Thieves? Are you against those too?" she didn't wait for an answer but stormed to her room where she could be heard throwing things around.

"You watch your tongue!" snapped Rika furiously once Scatter stopped swearing up at them. "Don't you dare speak like that! Pukar is a good person, and his caravan took me in when I was a child! They've been so good me. Shame on you! If anyone's disgusting, its you." she paused, her lip trembling in fury, "Do you know why he's in Urda 's House? A group of thugs decided it would be funny if they attacked a Trader boy walking down the street! It's people like you that make good men a burden to their family!"

Lati tensed, "Stop it." She growled, far harsher than anything the two had heard before, "You stop that right now. That means you too Scatter!" she yelled, breaking through the night. "If I hear even one squeak more of arguing I will freeze you both and leave you up here. Fighting like yours _killed_ my parents. No, I'm _not_ comfortable around traders, I never have been, but calling them brutal is hardly a reasonable reaction Jadis." Her mouth pursed like a scolding old woman's, "And they carry staffs, not clubs, there is a difference."

It was then that Jadis felt it. He hadn't in so long, that he had almost forgotten about them. It was like a muscle in his head had spasmed, tensing and wrapping him in the pain. "Ow, my head." he muttered, grasping his forehead. Then the world went blank to him. His muscles began to spasm, lurching and quivering and shaking. His place on the roof was no longer as secure, and all of a sudden he rolled down, thundering onto the earth below him.

"Scatter!" Lati cried before crawling down the wall to Jadis, "Come here!"

Lark and Rosethorn came out of the cottage in time to hear Scatter shout a plaintive "No!"


	16. After the Fall

Second Circle 

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Rika was shaking. She had never seen somebody lose control like that before and it was more frightening than anything else she could ever remember seeing in her life. Her mind just kept flashing back to Jadis sprawled out on the ground, a mixture of blood and urine soaking into the ground beneath him, Jadis twitching spasmically on the roof before the fall- The very thought of it sent chills up her spine.

The water temple was a mixture of smells good and bad. Jadis had been organized a private bed, meaning one with curtains that sheltered it from the rest of the temple. None of them knew what exactly was going on behind those curtains, but they had all been waiting there for about an hour. Rika barely knew why she was there. After all, hadn't Jadis just insulted her best friend and the family that had taken care of her since she had been given up? But she had stayed anyways. If she were to admit it to herself, she would know that she felt guilty. Guilty that she had caused this to happen to him, for she was sure it was her fault. It was only after she had yelled that he had begun to have those spasms. Well, Scatter and Lati had yelled too, but she had been the angriest of all, she was sure, and that had made whatever had just happened happen.

"You might want to get a bite to eat," said a Dedicate who was passing by. "It looks like he'll be at least another few hours." Rika watched Scatter do as her name suggested, glancing at Rika and then walking quickly away tyo check on a patient. Scatter hadn't talked much lately besides "Please pass the sugar." or "I have to go"

"Lets take a walk." said Rika suddenly once the dedicate left, turning to Lati. The other girl sat beside her wearily.

"Good idea." Lati murmured before standing and stretching, her entire back cracking loudly. "I hate being here. I hate all this medicine. Id's start walking and never stop if it kept me away from all this injury and pain."

"I hate it too." said Rika, "but you often can't get away from it."

"I don't care. I'm going to try." With that Lati started walking, it was the brisk walk of a farmer, slow enough to conserve energy, fast enough to conserve time. A constant rhythm. _step_, step. _step_, step. Rika got up and joined her, matching her steady pace. At that point Rika yearned to do what her mind told her not to. She wanted to ask this girl why the Traders were hated like they were- but she knew such a question would only lead to a heated discussion. She wasn't very good at heated discussions, she usually ended up yelling.

Instead she brought up a safer subject, "You have magic, then?" she asked Lati.

"Not that I can use. I was just bluffing last night when i said I would freeze you all." she smiled wryly "But Niko says I have magic so maybe soon I will be able to do things like that, and our field at my old home always had the biggest plants so then I suppose I might have farming magic... that would be useful."

"Would you go back to farming, then?" asked Rika, surprised. If she had some sort of powerful magic she wouldn't want to go back to the drudgery of everyday work. She would be a mage. No, that was a lie. She would be a cook, no matter if she had magic or not should she have the choice.

"Yes! No! I mean, maybe. it really depends. I mean-" Lati sighed before placing her head in her hands. "The truth? I want to murder the people who murdered my father and mother, I don't want to farm and I don't want to be good little Lati, I want to get to the people who ruined my life and rip them apart piece by piece. However," Lati inhaled deeply, seeming to calm herself, "I think that maybe what I need to do is move on, forget farming, forget Father and Mami. Maybe I need to give myself completely to this new life. It would be nice to forget."

Rika nodded, agreeing with the other girl wholeheartedly. That it would. She stopped suddenly as the other girl's words registered in her mind. "Wait, what happened to your farm?"

"Raiders happened." Lati's voice had the same harsh tone as Rika had heard the night before, "My village has always been targeted by raiders, we are-were fruitful in many ways. Our women beautiful, our men strong, our crops good and hardy. The Goddess Mila smiled upon us. Until our own turned against us. My mother was murdered by a raider as she went to wash laundry. Women from our village began disappearing and for a long time I harbored the hope my mother was still alive and would return to us. Eventually my Father and I learned to live without her. Until the morning I woke and soon found my house in flames and our trusted farmhand tried to give me to the raiders, for what purpose, I hope never to find out. I was the only survivor. I was told I hurt our farmhand but I don't remember it. All I remember is the desert. And the Goddess's abandonment." flowers had begun to wrap themselves around the girls legs and arms, shocking her from her story and obviously making her considerably uncomfortable.

Decidedly not mentioning the flowers wrapping themselves around Lati, Rika said, "Abandonment? How so? I mean, although all of that did happen, it brought you here didn't it? You may not think so, but this place is wonderful. No, more than wonderful..." she struggled with her words, "You're going to learn to use magic." Her eyes focused on Lati's, "and magic can take you anywhere. With magic, you'll be rich! You'll rule the world, in a sense. You'll be able to do anything. I bet you didn't have that on your farm."

"I had family on my farm." Lati said shortly, and with a wave of her hand the flowers around her were returned to their rightful spots and she started walking again.

Rika smiled wryly to herself. She was very bitter for such a gifted young girl. Albeit, she was just as young, but she liked to think she wasn't nearly as bitter. If she thought about it, though, she had a bit to be bitter about. The fact that her parents had given her up for a little bit of cash, that her mistress had given her up when she had called for help. That day, when she had been so sure that the man would do something horrible to her. That she had brought hurt to Pukar, the only person in the world who had truly cared for her. If he were to die, she wouldn't know what to do.

She felt a little bit guilty for not feeling more sympathetic towards Lati. But then, she had never really known family. How could she feel for what she had never had? "What's that saying?" she said, "It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."

"The greatest joy, you will ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return." Lati said quietly before humming the tune to the song in a flat, but clear voice. "Maybe It's a good thing I knew my mother and father but that doesn't make this any easier. I will never leave someone I love like I left my father, to die, ever. Let's go back to the Infirmary now, I'm tired." her quick pace and only slightly flushed cheek gave lie to her words, but by now Rika knew better than to argue. They were quiet the whole walk back.

Once they were back at the Water Temple, they were once again faced with those horrible sights and smells. Rika sat down in one of the chairs, feeling slightly tense. She didn't really want to be here for this biased boy. She fiddled with her hands, wanting to be anywhere but where she was.

Lati walked past Rika into Jadis's room, found a seat and waited by his bedside until his eyes fluttered open. "I'm not going to yell at you." she half joked, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay after your fall." he didn't reply so she plowed forward, "Just so you know I don't think it was really you talking when you acted that way. I think it's years of your Dad, and you can tell me I'm wrong and I'll listen but I won't believe you because the Jadis I know is a really nice guy who would never hate anything that strongly." she paused before ruffling his hair, which was about the same length as her own, "Thats all I wanted to say. Sleep tight."

"You're wrong." said Jadis. His voice came out as a croak, obviously strained and unhappy.

Lati turned, she had been about to leave, "I am?"

"I'm not a good person. And I hate more than you could ever know." His bottom lip quivered as he stared straight ahead of him stonily.

"Liar, you don't know hate." Lati shook her head, "Trust me." she stood and left.


	17. Lati and her little God

**Bella's note: We suck, we suck ass, seriously though. We love writing and stories and we're working on it! We really are! Reviews uber appreciated as they remind us that we are writing these for someone besides ourselves. **

**  
**Lately it seemed everyone at Discipline had drama in their lives. Jadis had fallen off a roof, Rika was steadfastly refusing that she had culinary magic or wanted to like at Discipline despite the fact that she spent all waking moment in the kitchen and practically already lived at Discipline.

…And Scatter had given herself wings.

Everyone had drama except for Lati.

Unless you count Rosethorn teaching her that aloe should not naturally curl around ones leg. And then spending an hour talking to said aloe in harsh tones when in fact she was unable to stop the unnatural growth.

After that Lati had been told to take the now rather overzealous aloe to a healer friend of Lark's in the village. And of course while she was heading there she might as well take some books to Niko who was helping some magic sniffer or another. Then Gorse wanted some violets to sugar coat for a cake that the lady Sandrilene Fa Toren would be enjoying that night. To finish off two of Scatter's dresses had to be spelled against tears and stains and Lark was hoping Sandry might do it.

So with this load Lati walked to Winding Circle and its surrounding village. Despite herself Lati was in a fairly good mood. The sun was nice but not boiling and there was a pleasant breeze that seemed to hurry her along. Halfway there it began to rain, Lati's mother always calling this kind of rain 'tickling' because it tended to dry quickly and be nothing more than a tiny annoyance to everyone. Lati pulled her apron off and placed it over her large bundle once she heard the sky crack, sure enough it began to rain only seconds afterwards. This rain was the kind that was good for crops and plants and not much else. Within moments Lati was soaked through and her shawl had done very little to protect her bundle. She only hoped Niko's books would be okay.

To top off the day she was having , only seconds from Gorse's kitchen an unseen figure bumped her, making her drop everything and lose her footing.

"Hey, are you okay?" The most handsome boy she had ever seen was leaning over her, his hair dripping warm drops of water on her face and keeping her mesmerized. Blonde hair, water darkened, bright blue eyes one lid a little droopy, smiling mouth filled with even white teeth except for the front two which overlapped. If Lati had been the swooning type she might have done so right then. All she could think about, as this godling stared at her were her own teeth, in particular her front one which was chipped. Her snub nose, powdered with sun freckles. Auburn hair, still not grown out. Boring hazel eyes. She must seem like a complete ogre to him! "I'm so clumsy, here let me help you!" he gathered the books up; thankfully they appeared to be spelled for protection. Scatter's dresses looked like rags but the aloe and violets seemed to have been spared the worse of it by said dresses. Before she even knew what he was doing he had picked her up, cradled in his arms like a child and dropped her packages in her lap.

"You really don't have to." She protested, she was sure her cheeks were glowing, her entire body was burning.

"No, I'm sorry this was entirely my fault, I want to make sure you're okay." So Lati, being the good passenger that she was simply leaned against his strong arms and chest, before being dropped gently on a worktable. Wood and glass, some with lightning bouncing around in it covered the table, her corner of it seemed to be the only remotely clean part of the entire place. Bellows roared as if to chide her for already feeling quite woozy around her little god.

"Keth! KETH! KETH! KETHLUN WARDER WOULD YOU STOP THAT FOR ONE SECOND!?" almost instantly the roar stopped to a murmur and a man with a roundish face and blond hair stepped around the corner to find his charge. Crouched on his shoulder was a beautiful mythological creature, a horse with wings. Said horse crooned upon seeing her before jumping from the man's shoulder and clumsily making it's way to her.

"Keth, this is-"

"Latia, Lati."

"Lati, my teacher and dad-in-training, Kethlun Warder, you can call him Keth. And this little beauty is my first glass creature. Mauia. I'm Aidan, you can call me Dan."

Still rather glazed over and fuzzy feeling, Lati let him wrap his hands around her head as he looked for a bump, in fact his search for injury was rather soothing and so was the warmth of their workplace. Before long she found herself falling asleep.

When she woke up it was dark and the rain had stopped, she jumped up, bumping her head on a low beam, "Lark must be worried sick, and I don't even know what Rosethron will do to me! Oh no, no, no, no!" her head ached so very much now and she couldn't have felt more like an idiot if she walked around naked except for perhaps a sign proclaiming her the girl least likely to find a man.

"Oh Goddess!" Dan caught her as she stumbled, stars flashing before her eyes. "Don't move! I got you!"

"Yes you do," Lati murmured before a stricken look crossed her face, "I mean, I have to go."

"Keth saw that you had a pendant from Discipline and sent Mauia to find out where your things needed to go. It's all been taken care of." he grinned at her, as if to say 'Aren't we such clever boys?'

Lati finally steadied herself, and found a single violet left on the table. Dan followed her gaze, "Gorse said he couldn't use it because its petals were malformed, but I thought it was still beautiful and didn't want to see him throw it away." He tucked it behind her ear. "It was very nice to meet you Lati."

She could have fainted right then, only the thought of having to go all the way home kept her steady, "It was a pleasure to meet you too, Dan. Thanks for everything!" She kissed his cheek and started walked quickly into the night.

"COME BACK SOON!" she heard.

She had thought that her own red cheeks might light her way to Discipline but she soon found herself surrounded by darkness. At which point a little popping light, surrounded by glass seemed to catch up with her and light her way.

She simply could have died from delight.


	18. Jadis and the good news

Liarra/Bella's note: This is a short little chapter that we thought we'd use to get this whole updating thing back on track (and by track we mean more than once a year/every other month. We're both super busy and we love doing this, the two don't have to be mutually exclusive. Here's hoping for a more updatful tomorrow.

Laying in his bed, his head pounding and his heart beating, and his mind flashing to everything that he wanted to forget, Jadis couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't died yet. He wanted to die right then and there, but not enough to force it into happening. Why was he the one who had been put on this earth to endure this? This worthlessness, this torture, these seizures, this hatred for himself? He was a freak, disgusting, and he didn't deserve to live. He was a monster hidden in the shell of a noble. Lati was right, he didn't hate Traders. Not that much. Maybe it was just his father speaking. No! he thought. He did not want to be his father. He just wanted to cry, but he couldn't cry. He hadn't cried in so long. He wasn't sure if he even had tear glands anymore. He felt slightly proud that he knew of them in the first place. Scatter would be proud of him. Then his heart sank. No she wouldn't. Scatter hated him now, didn't she? In the short while that he had known her, Scatter had become a kind of light in his life. Maybe, for a time, he had even been a light in hers.

But all that was over now. She had seen him at his worst and would never want to speak to him again. She hadn't visited him yet.

Neither had his father.

He blocked the thought from his mind forcefully. No, he could not think of him, not now, not ever.

Scatter entered Jadis' room, she stayed there silently staring at him for what seemed like hours but were probably only a few seconds before ducking outside of the curtain. He could hear her talking to herself, reminding herself not to be mean and then strangely enough to get the nerve to tell him the 'truth'. At this point she began to pace outside his curtained door, and then she popped back in, "Hi." she managed before leaving the room again and again Jadis heard her talking to herself, telling herself to breath. He watched her curiously, feeling very much like saying something peppy to welcome her in, but wasn't in the mood.

Scatter came back in, "The lead cause of slow recoveries are the mood and the thoughts of the patients. If you think black thoughts your body won't want to heal." she blushed bright red before stepping outside again and he could hear her say, to him this time, "I'm sorry for not wanting to help you, and Lati told me it's all because of your maukie Dad who hates life, and that you don't believe that but I do, believe that, I mean, and I shouldn't have gotten mad. One day you'll understand. and jus' so you know I don't hate you and I hope you don't hate me because you were my first friend and if you hated me then I would just... cry!" Her face peaked out at him, tanned and red from unshed tears. Her lower lip quivered, "And Dedicate Gentlehands says that your cut is healing nicely and you should be able to leave by the end of the week!" with that she fled, leaving the scent of medicine and jasmine and salt behind her.

Jadis lay in his bed, stunned. At least Scatter didn't hate him.


	19. Trouble in Summersea

Second Circle

-----

Excitement bubbled through Rika. Pukar was healthy, and he was finally, finally able to leave Urda's House in Summersea. She had sped through her day in anticipation. Gorse had commented on her absentmindedness, but she had brushed it off. Nothing was more important to her than Pukar being healthy. Her tunnel vision had led her to Urda's house's steps. Inside, she knew, Pukar was waiting for her. Anticipation wrapped around her like a squeezing bandage. She stopped in front of his room, took a deep breath and entered. His roommates gabbled with each other as he toyed with the cloth on his sleeve. "Pukar?" she called. His head snapped up, and a grin met his face.

"Rika. You're here." Rika grinned, her insides wobbling.

"Of course I am, silly." She held out a hand. He took it, bracing himself on her and his staff.

"How far is this Winding Circle place, anyways?" he asked.

"Not far." Rika lied. It was a good two hour walk. When they arrived they would have to sort out a living situation. Gorse had been letting her sleep in the cellar so long as she didn't touch anything, but that wouldn't do with injured Pukar. Maybe she ought to take up Lark and Rosethorn's offer of living with them at Discipline, even if she didn't have any magic. She could sleep on the floor and Pukar could sleep on the bed. Or, maybe they could sleep together...

Her cheeks instantly went red. Not a good idea. She forced it from her mind. It was stupid to even think of such a thing. Pukar couldn't possibly see her in that way, and even if he did they couldn't do ...anything... without his mother's approval, and his mother would never give her approval. She wasn't fond of Rika. Maybe if she knew about her work in Gorse's kitchens... but no. It wouldn't happen, it couldn't happen, so it was silly to even think of it.

Pukar didn't mention the sudden color in her cheeks, though he did notice it. "Come on. Let's get a move on to this Winding Circle place." She nodded briskly and helped him out the door, making sure to give her thanks to all of his nurses and to tell them where they would be staying should his family come round. As their feet finally felt dirt beneath them Pukar looked into the glaring sun and breathed. Fresh air at last.

-----

The Hub's bells chimed loudly, making everyone jump a little in their seats. They were all hungry and growing impatient. Everyone had made a big fuss about Sandry coming to visit. The house had been swept, polished and Gorse had made them a special meal. They had settled down, and waited. They were still waiting more than three hours later. Sandry still hadn't come.

Scatter looked at her hands, which she had been made to clean, her hair had been washed and it was chilling her to the core and she was hungry, "Sandry is a stupid pig." she said before propping her feet on the table.

"Don't!" snapped Lati, who had not slept in two days and was generally very grumpy. She shoved Scatter's feet off the table. "the LADY Sandrilene was surely held up by something important."

Scatter glared rather fiercely at her, "Jus' 'cause you've been stupid and not sleeping, doesn't mean you can be skripping grumpy at everyone else! You think you're soo special Lati! All because Sandry meditated with you! Well the rest of us aren't all rich and perfect and we get hungry!"

"Hypocrite!" Lati hissed angrily, "This is not only coming from the grumpiest girl in the house but also from 'Aelis Tophia Shatheif!' you think no-one notices that your last name' means of the thief'? I bet you never had to do an honest day's work in your life, living off whatever you parent's stole from who ever they were working for."

Scatter winced visibly by how close to the truth Lati was, "I HATE YOU!" she screamed, her cheeks flushed red. "You don't know anything, you bitch!"

Lark looked to Rosethorn quiet she spoke; "I know that Scatter and Lati are upset by Jadis' fall but this is-"

Rosethorn shook her head, "Lati is being affected by the weather, hail and very heavy rain are terrible for plants, without sunlight it is very hard for them to generate an food, she's feeling a sort of empty hunger that she can't fill. I'd like to have some sort of mage examiner come to her, she is being unusually empathic."

"And how do you explain Scatter?"

"That girl is without a doubt the most trying 12 year-old I have ever met. She takes absolutely everything to heart, even her anger and passion." Rosethron sighed heavily and clanked her cup down, "Scatter, if within the next five seconds you do not lower your voice I will personally feed you to my venus fly trap, inch by inch!"

On cue, Scatter burst into tears and a knock on the door could be heard.

"It's Rika!" came her voice, muffled by the door. "And Pukar!" she added.

"Come in!" Lark yelled tensely. Rika opened the door gently, a huffing Pukar behind her. She hadn't expected him to be so easily tired. The lack of exercise in the hospital had lowered his endurance considerably, and the walk, which had taken three hours instead of two, had exhausted him.

"Um, hi." she said shyly and wrapped an arm around his. They both blanched at the situation before them- Lati red and angry, Scatter with tears in her eyes and Lark and Rosethorn tense and frustrated. "Is this a bad time...?" she asked politely.

"Yes." Scatter said shortly and without another word walked by Rika and left, only taking a little second to nod her head at Pukar.

Rika's other arm bore a basket of goodies. "Gorse wanted me to bring these for Lady... where is she? Lady Sandrilene, I mean?"

Lati blew out angrily and clenched her teeth so hard that her jaw cracked, "Lady Sandrilene did not see fit to come to her dinner. Lady Sandrilene fa Toren appears to have completely forgotten us all. I'm sorry you made the trip here for no reason." her clipped tone either meant it was that time of the month or that she was fuming. Either or.

Rika shrugged, ever calm and collected. "Perhaps something came up. I heard her uncle is very ill at the moment." Ignoring the collective biting tones of the group she settled Pukar down.

Another knock ran through the house, Scatter came back in looking thoroughly chastised, "I found Sandry." She said. Rain was dripping down her face and neck and soaking into her thick shift despite that new tears could be seen dripping down her cheeks. Sandry had a death grip on the girl's hand, her usually pretty face was red and her eyes were swollen with tears, "The Duke is dead. My claim to the throne will not be accepted by my cousins. That traitor Fer Tuvall has mounted a rebellion against me. My Loyal servants hide in their homes afraid to leave. I have only eight Loyal guards with me. I was hoping I could stay here-" Here she broke down and leaned on Scatter, who had forgotten her previous dislike of the woman, "I await letters from Daja, Tris and Briar. I leave within the week. Those who side with me are no longer safe as my cousins grow mad. I had hoped for your company in my travels." Sandry dug her nails into her palm to calm herself, "Winding circle will be their first objective, the mages here are a juicy prize. I could not bear to see you so used!"

Lark's hand flew to her face. "Oh my," she whispered. "Come, Sandry, sit, and tell us the whole story. Lati, brew some tea for the girl." She pulled out a chair and guided Sandry to it, a comforting hand resting on her shoulder.

Lati flew as if she had been burned, her cheeks were red and hot with embarrassment. She tip toed around he kitchen, never clanging cup nor drawers, trying, in a sense, to make herself invisible to criticism. Ginger tea to ward off the cold that both Sandry and Scatter would have tomorrow. After she picked the tea pot off the fire- right before the first whistle. And right before she poured the first mug full of tea, she broke down. Wars always targeted farmers. Wars always killed innocents. What would happen to them now?

-  
Author's Note: Dun dun dun dun. Tell us what you think! With a review! Thanks for your input:)


	20. A dream?

**Bella says: Now that you have been suitably introduced to all our characters it's time to get to the important part: Angst! Now begins our first proper story line and hopefully you'll enjoy it! R&R like always because if we see encouragement it helps with the whole updating thing (like not once every three months) **

It was a dream she'd had often. It always ended with her sweat drenched on the floor. Sometimes it came when she was happiest. Sometimes when she was scared, or angry. Usually it came when she was uncertain.

_Scatter usually started walking down a hallway, long and dank. The sound of rats was almost unrecognizable now to her ears. Her weight rings were gone now. Her hair was to her back, not dirty like it had been before. Not shining gold like it had been at Winding Circle, but pale, pale blonde. Eyes had gone pale blue. In truth her entirety was older, nineteen? Ancient, pale. Ghost-like. _

_There was a delicate curve to her body, a little strut to every step. Her back was ridged and perfectly straight. Her hand slide along a wooden door, ebony probably, as it almost blended into the tunnel. The door swung open, and there was the Thief Lord extending his hand to her. "My Jewel, sit, sit, your latest suitor is here." Scatter could see a pouch heavy with gold exchanged between the two men. The man buying had a deformed face, half of it appeared to be melted and then he had covered it in a gold leaf. He smiled at her, leered more like. Scatter shuddered, but the women that she had become merely stared into the distance entirely withdrawn._

"_Have her back by morning!" The Thief Lord snapped; before leading the apparently brainless girl to her 'Suitor.' At this point a sound rather like a moan rose from her throat, The Thief Lord stroked her neck for a second, until she calmed and then pushed her toward the golden man. "Have fun Jewel." He ordered._

"_Yes. My Lord." 'Jewel' replied softly and tonelessly, "I always have fun…"_

Scatter woke with a muffled scream. Her hands were trembling, her sheets were dark with sweat. With every molecule of her body, Scatter forced herself in a plank position. Holding every muscle tensed and ready, a single word, or sound outside of her own shallow breathing would send her springing from the bed and ready to attack whoever it was.

After a few minutes she managed to force her mind to let her do something besides waiting to attack. One tentative hand reached up to her head and tugged a clump of hair from her scalp. The pain helped her focus. The hair was gold. That meant she was clean.

_Where was she_? Winding Circle.

_What was she doing here_? Niko had saved her.

_Why? _She had magic.

_Why hadn't she run away yet? _People loved her here. She was happy here. Life was good here.

Inhale. Exhale. Had to find someone, someone real, someone to help her realize this wasn't another dream.

Scatter climbed out through the window, breathing in the fresh air, shivering in the cold. She was terrified she realized, truly terrified. She could almost feel Goldman's fingers holding her own. Never had the dream been in such detail. Made her doubt herself so much.

"'ey Scat!"

"Magpie?" This couldn't be, couldn't be. Magpie could never end up here at Discipline. Magpie was all the way in Sotat.

"Yous done bein' a bag yet? Thief Lord wans you outta this dream now, he's decided tha' yous been here long 'nuff."

"Dream?"

"Ya, dream, yous snore, yous does. Time ta wake, now Scat. Thief Lord's getting' might' tired a waitin' fo ya."

"Dream?"

"Ya, you a fluff nog now? Yous brain getting wet? Betta na'. Thief Lord's waitin' now."

It was a harsh jolt to reality, it dragged her out of her perfect Discipline Garden and back to the dirt and sewer smells and lice she knew all too well.

"Get up."

"Yes, Thief Lord." Scatter stood. Her legs shook like jelly and she fell twice. Neither times was she caught by the Thief Lord. "Were'd Magpie go? She was jus here."

"Magpie was brought into your dream to ease the transition between these two alternating realities. Now, my precious Jewel. What'd you learn?"

"Don't call me that!" Scatter gagged physically, falling to her knees and heaving, empty stomach emptying nothing. This time the Thief Lord dragged her up, He turned her to face him, not at all gently.

"What did you say to me?"

"I said… don't call me that?" Scatter realized her mistake quickly; no one made demands of the Thief Lord. His slap made her teeth rattle.

Just as quickly as his anger was aroused, he calmed and examined her face, checking for any visible damage, "My Beautiful _Jewel_, my lovely pearl. I missed you greatly. Now we will plan, yes?"

"Yes, My lord. Of course, my Lord." Scatter tried not to shiver under his touch. Surely once she had felt comfortable beside this man. At one point, she was sure; he had been her main caregiver. Her idol. When the dream's affects faded away she would feel as she always had. Admiration and love.

"-You are probably aware- as we tried to keep you up to date while you were, in your state- Sandry has been refused the throne. There is a civil war already brewing in Summer Sea. With your new knowledge you will be my body guard, my eyes and ears when I cannot have my own exactly where I want them. You, my dearest, will be entirely key my success and indeed business enlargement, during this little fiasco." He led her down the same hallways she had wandered far too many times in her dream. "Now Jewel, dearest." Again she gagged, how could she have ever loved this cruel man? "Meet the man responsible for your new knowledge. Mage- Traitor."

Scatter fought the urge to scream, she managed to hold back everything except for a high squeak. This man had both his arms cut off, and the wounds were fresh, healed only by some rough infected stitches and a tiny dose of magic. His eyes were gone leaving only two empty sockets. His skin was yellow and taut against high cheekbones, a sign that at one point he had not been a monster. He tried to smile, he had only two broken teeth left and his tongue had been cut out. "Oh Lord! Let me help him!" She made to move forward only to be held back by her benefactor's firm hold on her neck and shoulders.

"He tried to run away from us, Jewel, from his responsibility to me, and from me to you. He would have left you stranded in the dream world you inhabited for so long. Do you still feel pity for him?"

"Yes." Scatter tried desperately to hold tears back. "Yes, I do pity him. I pity him for the shell of what he has become."

"That is because you are confused," Was his answer. "But do not worry, while trying to bring you back he overdosed on this," The Thief Lord set on a table a small vial the size of Scatter's thumb, that is to say, not very large at all. He pulled out a tiny glass stick to which a drop of the black liquid stuck. "This would enhance your powers beyond your wildest imaginations, one day you may need to use it, my darling, but it is not this day, today we will watch this traitor die for trying to keep you from me."

He forced her to watch as the man slowly dehydrated, as his body tried to keep fighting and even began to grow back some of his missing limbs. She watched as he writhed on the floor in agony, tearing his own skin off on the hard gravel. Finally she closed her eyes as she heard his dying screams, could feel the soft spray of blood as The Thief Lord muttered something along the lines of _Taking too long, better things to do_ and cut the man's head off.

Scatter gritted her teeth, knew that any wrong move could have her in the exact same spot, screaming the exact same way. With this knowledge she took any dangerous part of herself, what she had just witnessed, anything that made her Scatter, and could be a danger to her. Then she locked it into the back of her brain, where it would be safe and thus _she_ could stay safe. She took a deep breath. Locked her brain and threw away the key. Gave it to someone she knew she would never meet again. When she turned to the Thief Lord she was blank and withdrawn, doing exactly what he asked with minimal commentary.

She was _Jewel_.


End file.
